The Washington herald., 1920-02-29
And
DEVELOPMENT
Natural Gas Formed by Hy-
drogen and Molten
Metals.
HIGH HEATING VALUE
Life of Wells Governed
By Many In
huences. =

some other element. Water consists
of two parts hydrogen and one part
oxygen. 1t is the now generally ac-
Icepted theory that natural gas was
formed by water being decomposed
into hydrogen and oxygen and the
hydrogen coming in contact with the
molten metals, formed a combination
of hydrogen and carbon. which, as a
matter of fact, is the principal ingre-
dent in natural gas. A previous the
ory, held for a long time. was that
natural gas was formed by the de-
composition of vegetable matters. In
this connection it may be stated that
coal deposits have nothing whatever
to do with natural gas deposits. AS
a rule the Goals that are mined Tor
commercial uses are found at depths
much shallower than natural gas.
Natural gas has a heating value OF
l,OO0 b. T. US. The general standard
for the present artificial gas manufac-
tured is approximately 600 B. T. us.
Natural gas is odorless and will not
give any illumination when burned in
an open burner, while artificial gas,
as you know. gives a luminous flame
when burned in an open tip.
The life of gas wells and fields is
a question that is continually ask
ed by people who are not familiar
with the various developments. II
can be stated in a general way that
the life of the individual well de-
pends, first, upon the number OF
wells drilled per acre in the par
ticular field and the rapidity with
which the gas is drawn from the
well; second. the density of the sand
that is, the fineness or coarseness
of the sand; third, care of the wells.
S. S. Weyer. who was connected
with the natural gas division of the
Fuel Administration, has stated in
a recent booklet that the average
life of all natural gas wells through
out the United States has been eight
years, while the life of the natural
gas wells in the state of Ohio has
averaged only five years.
At this point it might be we'll to
explain that the amount of gas de-
livered by an individual we'll whire
open to the atmosphere is designat-
cd as the open flow" and IN no
case is it ever possible to draw from
the well the total amount of the
open flow" The percentage drawn
from the well is usually from 10
per cent to a maximum of 80 per
cent, the variations being dependent
upon the density of the sand.
The rock pressure of A we'll is the
pressure in square inches. shown by
an ordinary gauge when attached to
the well when closed in. This pres
sure corresponds in general way
to the hydrostatic pressure; that is
If a well is 1000 feet deep, the 1nl-
tial rock pressure is 500 pounds. II
a well is l,5O0 feeS deep, the pres
sure is roughly 750 pounds. In 9TH
er words, the pressure in pounds is
approximately one-half the depth
of the well in feet.
Gas leases are generally taken
upon the following conditions:
The company agrees to drill the
acreage within a specified time. and
failing to do so, agrees to pay a
rental charge for acreage a year,
amounting to from 10 cents to s1.O0
per acre. After the we'll is drilled
the lessee Casually a farmer) OBJ
tains a fixed amount a year per well
regardless of the volume of gas
drawn from the we'll This varies
from $50 to $500 per we'll per an
mum.
The furnishing of natural gas
to the consumer may be divided
into three parts, namely, l, pro-
duction; 2, transportation; 3, local
distribution. The arbitrary division
made by the early natural gas peo-
pie was that the producer should
receive one-third of the selling
price of the. gas, the pipe line COM
pany Chat is. the company that
takes the gas from the fields to
the village, town or city,, should
receive one-third, and the company
that distributes the gas in the COM
munity should receive the balance.
or one third. This arbitrary division
may have been equitable with the
early developments. but as time
went on and the developments
were further removed from the
arketing centers, the pipe line
companies had to continually in
crease their investments. and there
fore are entitled to a greater per-
centage than 33-3 per cent of the
selling price of eas.
Natural gas is produced and sold
in twenty-four States of the union.
In 1917 there were in round num-
DeGS I9J,UOU,UUU,UUU CUBIC rect OIL
gas sold to 2.43O.O00 domestic con-
sumers and 1S.600 industrial con-
Sumers.
The States in which the largest
amounts of natural gas are sold
and the year of first recorded pro-
duction are in the following order:
Ohlo ......'.'..'.. '.....'.'..... 1883
Pennsylvania ............... 1882
Kansas 1889
West Virginia ............. 1885
New York. 1885
Oklahoma ................... 1902
California NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. 1889
1t will be noted from this that
gas has been produced in Kansas
for thirty years, and in Ohio and
West Virginia for thirty-four
years. Notwithstanding the fact
that gas was first produced in
Ohio thirty-four years ago, prac-
tically every hamlet. town and CITY
in Ohio is now using natural gas
der that the benefits from this natu-
raj resource be prolonged.
.. That the appropriate agencies
both State and Federal. be urged to
stimulate research in perfecting