The Colorado statesman., 1913-07-05
NATURAL GAS LOSS
Government Document Shows a
Deplorable Condition.
Situation Has Improved Since the
Operators Have Learned to Close
the Wells, but the Waste Is
Still Immense In Places.

Washington.-The history of the
natural gas industry of the United
States is an appalling record of in
credible waste according TO Ralph
Arnold and Frederick G. Clapp, au-
thors of technical paper 3S of the
United States bureau of mines on the
subject, Wastes in the Production
and Utilization of Natural Gas and
Means of Their Prevention" In this
technical paper, which has just been
issued by the bureau, are the follow
ing statements from the authors:
There was evidently no great
waste of gas In this country before
1873, as no large gas fields had been
discovered. although gas was always
wasted In oil production. In 1878 a
well of great volume and pressure
was struck at Murraysville. Pa, 20
miles east of Pittsburgh, and the gas
from this we'll was allowed to flow to
waste for three years, with no effort
to check 1t. Up to this time the be-
lief that natural gas was inexhaust-
ible seemed to be universal. just as in
later years a similar opinion pre-
vailed regarding the forests, coal and
many minerals, and hence 1t was not
until 15 or 20 years after the first
utilization of gas that the pronounced
decline of production caused the truth
to dawn upon producers and consum-
ers-that the supply was indeed linn
ited.
"The waste of natural gas has
drawn the attention of the entire
country, and because the waste
threatens the life of gas fields It has
prevented many investors from build
ing plants in the various fields, there
by depriving the localities Of in
creased population and wealth In
considering the question of waste 1t
must be understood that the geologic
occurrence of the gas in the sand
stone, sand or limestone reservoirs
is such that the flow of gas from one
well causes q decrease in the flow of
others and a reduction of the supply
throughout the entire field.
Instances are common where care
lessness and Indifference in drilling
have resulted in waste of gas from
formations penetrated above the regu-
lar sand.
In other instances, If the forma-
tions are loose. the gas sand fairly
shallow, the pressure great, and the
proper precautions are not taken in
setting the casing, the gas may escape
around the casing. loosening the
ground rapidly, and ultimately gain
ing sufficient volume and pressure to
blow the casing from the well. Such
'blow-outs have happened a number
of times in the Texas and Caddo
fields. They are likely to occur in the
first wells drilled in any field before
the conditions attending the gas
pockets are generally known. Some
excuse may exist for the occurrence
of one such blowout in a new field,
before the presence of the high-pres-
sury gas pocket is known, but there
is usually little reason for a second
or a subsequent blowout in field,
because precautions can be taken to
prevent it.
Waste in drilling is not SO great as
formerly, because at the present time
drillers have usually every facility at
hand to close well as soon as COM
pleted By proper preparation most
wells can be packed, tubed and shut
in within two hours. According to the
conservation commission of Louisi-
ana, the waste from the two principal
wild wells in Louisiana had its be-
ginning more from a lack Of knowl-
edge of what precautions would be
effective that from negligence or in
difference. The waste from the first
big gas well encountered in drilling
for oil in the Buena Vista hills field
of California was due to the unexpect-
edness of the great flow and to local
inexperience In handling such pres
sures. This well was controlled only
after a Texas operator had been en-
gagged to do the work.
''The most notorious waste at pres
ent is in Oklahoma, Louisiana and
California. The commission on the
conservation of the natural resources
in Louisiana. after an exhaustive ex-
animation of the situation in the
Caddo field, found that the waste ap-
proximated 75,O00,00O cubic feet per
"a hours. an amount equal to 20 times
what the city of Shreveport uses now
in the same space of time, and equal
to one-twentieth of the amount con-
sumed by the entire United States.
1T also found that the value of the
gas wasted from single wild we'll
in that state was in excess of $4,000
per day."