Albuquerque evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1911-1914, 1913-05-31
Millions Of Dollars
IN Natural Gas
Wasted

Wellington. May si.--.oli experts
81 the United States bureau Of mines
who have been investigating the nat
ural sas industry. have reported 20
Joseph A. Holmes, The director. that
milllone Of dollars' worth Of this
most perfect fuel ~ being wasted
each year IN the United States.
The history of tho natural gas
industry II an appalling record Of In
credible waste" say Ralph Arnold
and Frederick q. clapp. the experts,
In their report made public today.
They refer 70 the waste In Oklahoma.
Louisiana and California as being no.
torious.
In oklahoma one hundred million
cubic feet OF gas IN escaping into tho
air every twenty-four hours. This has
a value OF $4,000 a day or $780,
600 q year This waste IL also equal
20 one and oDesquarter million tons
OF the hest bitumlnous coal.
The waste In Louisiana IL estimated
at Is million cubic feet OF gas daily,
valued AZ $4,000 for each day, or
ss.475. Geo for the year. This waste
Of gas IL equivalent 10 nearly one
milton tons Of coal. u ls pointed
out By experts that this waste ~ espe-
Cially ngErHvating because OF the fact
that Louisiana does not have any
coal resources within her boundaries
and that while the state Is allowing
It's supply OF gas to escape In the
air the citizens are paying for coal
that has TO be transported some dis
lance.
There were three principal wells
In tho caddo Held from which the
greater part OF the waste occurred. -
says Mr. Arnold. Two OF these have
been closed by the owners. thus prov
ing that closure IL feasible. No at
tempt has been made to close the
other. and when visited by Mr.. Clapp
In February. 1912. Il consisted OF a
crater perhaps an acre In extent. In
the center of which the gas WAS fore
Ing geyser-like rnass OF mud and
water To a height Of twenty or thirty
feet. During much OF the time this
well il burning. The gas from this
we'll has been going 20 waste for
three years. Two other wells having
an estimated volume OF twenty 70
thirty million cubic feet per day,
blew out and burned for one or two
years. In the Caddo field at least
500 million cubic feet OF gas has al
certain times been wasted daily. all
the waste being preventable.
In certain OF the southern Cali
forniu fields the gas that accompan-
.es the oil IL exceedingly rich In gaso-
line. but up 20 a short time ago prac-
tlcally all this gas, with the excep-
ton OF some used locally for fuel.
went 10 waste. A. II has been found
that at some wells the value OF the
recoverable gasoline In the gas is
worth as much az twenty per cent Of
the oil produced from the same WELL
II Is not extravagant to estimate the
loss of sasollne--the most desired
constituent OF the product--ln the
wasted gas of California at 10 per
cent OF the value OF the oil produced
In the southern California fields up
to 1912, or clear waste OF about
81. 600. OO0 OF $4,000, 900. The value OF
the wasted gases carrying minor
amounts Of gasoline. but useful for
fuel purposes. viii bring the total loss
up To fully per cent OF the value
OF the total oil produced In the state,
or s., OOO. goo"
Mr.. Arnold quotes I. G. white,
state geologist of Yves, Virginia.
authority for the statement that from
one we'll In eastern Kentucky there
poured stream OF gas for period
of twenty years without any attempt
To shut IL In or utilize IL, the amunt
Of which Il has been figured was
worth at current prices more than
81. 0OO. OG0.
MIR. Arnold declares that there was,
years ago. great waste In ohio. Penn
sylvania. Indiana and West virginia
but it has been stopped through the
business like methods of the larger
companies and the efficient state leg-
lslation.
The oil experts Of the bureau otef
"A number of methods whereby the
gas may be saved for future use ana
urge upon the Industry and the states
involved thu necessity for QUICK ac'
ton " the gas fields are to be oi
service In the future. Already a
number OF fields have become eN'
hausied through waste and others are
beginning 10 decline in production.