<pre style="white-space: pre-wrap">xt7w0v89h848 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7w0v89h848/data/mets.xml Jillson, Willard Rouse, 1890- 1922  books b92-105-27901552 English J.P. Morton, : Louisville, Ky. : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Natural gas Kentucky. Conservation of natural gas in Kentucky  / by Willard Rouse Jillson ; illustrated with forty-four new photographs, maps and diagrams. text Conservation of natural gas in Kentucky  / by Willard Rouse Jillson ; illustrated with forty-four new photographs, maps and diagrams. 1922 2002 true xt7w0v89h848 section xt7w0v89h848 


           THE
CONSERVATION OF NATURAL GAS
       IN KENTUCKY


                       A GAS FIELD WASTE
   In this Eastern Kentucky well the driller is blowing the "gas head"
off. The well produced oil, which the driller wasted as "an experiment."


                   THE


Conservation of Natural Gas


            In Kentucky


                     BY
         WILLARD ROUSE 5JILLSON
               B. S., M. S., SC. D.
     Director and State Geologist of the Kentucky
               Geological Survey


      Illustrated with Ftr'y-four Nw Pf.clographs,
              Maps and Diogromz


                      0


                 FIRST EDITION


                      0


JOHN P. MORTON  COMPANY
       INCORPORATED
    L.OU'ISVILLE, KENTUCKY

        1 9 2 2


     Copyrigbt 1922 By
WILLARD ROUSE JILLSON

    All Rights Reserved


                To MyJ

             FATHER
From whom I learned in youth the value of
       Patience and Perseverance
            this little book
                  is
               dedicated


This page in the original text is blank.


                     CONTENTS


                                                   Page
Illustrations ----------------_---   -- -__-  _______   9

Preface------------------------------------------------- 11

                       CHA.PTER I

The Age of Waste -17

                      CHAPTER II

Natural Gas Resources of Kentucky --_--_____-         '26

                      CHAPTER III

Our Natural Gas Industries -68

                      CHAPTER IV

Trend of Critical Comment -__--______-_-_-          1)3

                       CHAPTER V

Natural Gas Conservation -       __-- ___-____- __-_-__----124


Selected Bibliography -____--_--______      -__________    -145
Index -_------------------------------_------------147


This page in the original text is blank.


                  ILLUSTRATIONS
                                                    Page
A Gas Field Waste --------------------------Frontispiece
1. A Pipe Line Nearly on End -------_______________ 18
2. Ignorance Resulting in Loss------------------------ 21
3. A Gasser Correctly Closed In_-9___-____-__________    24
4. Gas Pipe Line Construction in Timber -____-________   27
6. A Standard Drilling Rig-------------------------- 28
6. A Taylor County Gasser----------__-________________-29
7. Natural Gas Pools and Pipe Lines (Mlap) --------------32
8. Location, and Decline Curves of Beaver Creek Gas Field 34
9. Location, and Decline Curves of Martin County Gas
     Field -________________________________----__ 38
10. Location, and Decline Curves of Win Gas Field--__-__-42
11. Location, and Decline Curves of Menifee County Gas
     Field- -_________________________-____-- 48
12. Location, and Decline Curves of Meade County Gas
     Field ----------------------------------------- 54
13. An Oil Field Waste----------------------------------- 56
14. A Natural Gas Structure----------------------------- 60
15. Drilling for Gas with a Portable Rig--_---___--_______ 63
16. Preliminary Work on Gas Pipe Line_-70------_------- 70
17. Up Hill, Down Hill, and On--__--__________--_________ 71
18. Kentucky Produced and Imported Natural Gas       - ____ 74
19. Central Kentucky Natural Gas Company's Pressure
      Plant -8---- 78
20. Eastern Carbon Plant in Operation------------------- 80
21. North View of Liberty Carbon Plant--_------------- 84
22. Northeastern View of Eastern Carbon Plant----------- 86
23. Making Natural Gas Carbon Black_------------------- 89
24. A Portable Drilling Rig_-__---__          ---      91
25. Liberty Carbon Plant in Operation----------------- 93
26. Railroad Yard-Liberty Carbon Company, Floyd County,
     Kentucky -____________    --___ --__________  --__   95
27. A Portion of the Beaver Creek Gas Field (Mlap) -____ 96
28. Not Bathing-Repairing a Leak_---------------------- 98
29. Lowering a Twelve-Inch Line -_____________________101
30. Gas Line Construction in Johnson County -____-_____104
31. Not a Quarry-A Pipe Line---------------------------106
32. "Blowing a Gasser"---------------  -   -   --      - 108


                                                    Page
33. A Temple Hill Gasser "Closed In" -----   __-__-__- 111
34. Gas Pipe Lines Must C'ross Creeks -_   -    -    115
35. What the Consumer Does Not Know- -         __   ----- 125
36. Ready for the Gas Mlain---------------------------- 127
37. Where a Pipe Line Withstood a Washout -      _________130
38. A "Closed In" Kentucky Gasser ____-__________------ 132
39. A Twelve-Inch Gas Pipe Line Crossing the Kentucky
     River -_________________________________        134
40. Drainage vs. a Gas Pipe Line-____-____-_-____________137
41. A Menifee County "Booster"--------------------------139
42. A Gas Pipe Line Near the Big Sandy-------------- 141
43. Telephone Line and Natural Gas Pipe Line---____          143


            AUTHOR'S PREFACE


C    ONSERVATION is not a word to be dealt with
       lightly. Its implications are many, and its value
       frequently has to be accel)ted as good while con-
tingent upon a future return. A practical application of
conservation always necessitates an industrial readjust-
ment, and this in turn generally brings about financial
and business hardships for various individuals and cor-
porations. The interests of a large community or group
of communities have never been advanced except at the
sacrifice of the few.
   In the natural gas problem the necessity for immediate
conservation is perhaps more vividly apparent than in
any of the other mineral resources. This is particularly
true of the gas reserves of Kentucky. The really serious
situation which has developed in our sister States of
West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania may be delayed
in Kentucky if effective preservation measures are intro-
duced at once. The matter is urgent. As in all regional
problems of natural resource conservation, the actual
co-operation of the individual producer and consumer, as
well as that of the conservation-effecting agent, will be
required if the best results are to be obtained.


                            State Gcologist of Kentucky.
Old State Capitol,
Frankfort, Kentucky.
January 15, 1922.


This page in the original text is blank.


           THE
CONSERVATION OF NATURAL GAS
       IN KENTUCKY


This page in the original text is blank.

 
CHAPTER I


            THE AGE OF WASTE

   At no time in the history of the world has the rate of
industrial expansion been as rapid as during the past
decade. This is especially true of the United States. The
Northeastern and Middle West manufacturing regions of
this country have literally been hives of industry. As
might naturally be expected, the development of the
mineral resources of -tlie;wvorlel 'and o'i the United States
in particular has pllunged ahead at an unprecedented
rate during this ieriiad. Miining ha-s been, i'. fact, a
complement of our 'industri'al growt i.
   Newv manufacturiiig ir.durtrikt, as well. aksnew kinds
of manufacturing, have -created 'new   and increased
markets, and an incessant demand for the basic crude
minerals of this country. This has been true of coal,
petroleum, gas, and the iron, lead, zinc and copper ores.
The drain has been particularly severe at the same time
on the forest resources of this country, especially the
southern Appalachian region; but this latter problem is
outside the province of this discussion, though eco-
nomically closely related to it.
   In the feverish haste of the mineral resource pro-
ducers to supply an ever growing and gluttonous market
on all sides, there has crept unheeded and unchallenged
into the producing industries such practices as should not
only shock our present day somewhat skeptical con-
sciences, but cause us to anxiously contemplate the
probable status of our national economic security in the
not too far distant future. Certain it is that in the years
to come our posterity will be forced to solve many difficult
and entirely unnecessary mineral producing problems


NATURAL GAS OF KENTUCKY


because of our present day reckless extravagance. At the
same time very greatly reduced supplies of mineral
resources and their widespread substitution will become
the rule.

          NATURAL GAS DEPLETION AT HAND

   Indeed the first day of natural resource diminution
and hunger is at hand. Figures compiled for the entire
United States show tha't the peak natural gas production
of 795,110,376,01)0 eub;c feet r-s reached in 1917. This
great fuel resource, once considered an oil field liability,
later an imm)rlar.t by-product, end finally a household
and industrial necessity, decreased 74,109,417,000 cubic
feet or 9 per eezt in 191S. Present indications are that
the decline has continued on down through 1919, 1920,
and 1921, though the exact figures to verify this statement
are not available now.
   The situation during the last few years has become so
acute that many industries using natural gas have been
forced to abandon it. Domestic and industrial consumers
in outlying sections have been forced to substitute coal,
and in those municipalities located close to or within the
great gas fields of the Appalachian region rates for pur-
chase have been rapidly increased as the supply has
waned. In such cities as Cleveland, Columbus, Cincin-
nati, Huntington, Charleston, Wheeling, Ashland, Lex-
ington, Louisville, and Pittsburgh there has already been
introduced or is now in the process of introduction a
sliding upward scale for the purchase of natural gas.
Some conservation legislation has also been introduced in
the Appalachian district to keep unused supplies of
natural gas within the boundaries of the State in which
it is produced.


16


THE AGE OF WASTE


          PETROLEUM RESERVES ARE LIMITED
   The interpretation of a special report recently com-
pleted showing the petroleum reserves of the United
States to be 9,150,000,000 barrels, indicates clearly that
the pangs of severe mineral resource hunger will in all
probability be felt in this industry between 1940 and
1950. The following passages excerpted from this report
allow but a single construction-the imperative need of
rigid economy and conservation:
               the oil reserves of the country, as the
public has frequently been warned, appear adequate to
supply the demand for only a limited number of years.
The annual production of the country is now almost half
a billion barrels, but the annual consumption, already
well beyond the half billion mark, is still growing. For
some years we have had to import oil, and with the
growth in demand, our dependence on foreign oil has
become steadily greater, in spite of our own increase in
output. It is, therefore, evident that the people of the
United States should be informed as fully as possible as
to the reserves now left in this country.
   "The estimated reserves are enough to satisfy the
present requirements of the United States for only 20
years, if the oil could be taken out of the ground as fast
as it is wanted. Should these estimates fall even so much
as two billion barrels short of the actual recovery, that
error of 22 per cent would be equivalent to but four
years' supply, a relatively short extension of life. . .
   " In the light of these estimates as to the extent of our
supplies of natural petroleum, the committee points out
the stern obligation of the citizen, the producer, and the
Government to give most serious study to the more com-
   Press notice U. S. G. S. 12198, January, 1922.


17


   18 NATEURAL GAS O)F klE.NTUCKVY


                 A PIPE LINE NEARLY ON END

   The construction of' a natural gas pipe line in Eastern Kentucky Is
attended with great diffculty, as this view shows.


THE AGE OF WASTE


plete extraction of the oil from the ground, as well as to
the avoidance of waste, either through direct losses or
through misuse of crude oil or its products."
   As the domestic supply of natural petroleum de-
creases, prices for the many commodity necessities refined
from it will increase materially and progressively.
Throughout this country those industries and individuals
making use of products refined from petroleum will be
forced to meet the advancing cost. Such costs for many
will be prohibitive. Substitutes both good and bad will
flood the market. Inferior makeshifts will no doubt
depreciate the arts and many industries. The automo-
bile and the industrial gas engine will in a large measure
become relics, unless an adequate substitute for gasoline
is produced and sold for a reasonable price. Large users
of such necessary by-products as lubricating oils will
find themselves confronted by a distinctly serious
situation.
            COAL PRODUCTION IS WASTEFUL
   Conditions attending the development of the coal re-
sources of Kentucky are strictly comparable to those
found elsewhere in the recently exploited coal fields of
the United States, and will serve as an interesting
example of our lawless prodigality. In the eastern and
western coal fields of Kentucky there is much being done
in the way of attempted coal production that honestly
invites the most severe criticism. While it is true that
most of the larger companies have operated their proper-
ties from the start along the lines of the best engineering
practice, it is known that hundreds have gone about the
production of coal with little or no mining system at all.
   In many cases owners of small coal mines are entirely
inexperienced in the coal producing business prior to


19


NATURAL GAS OF KENTUCKY


starting their new mining operations. In response to the
unusual demand for the product, properties have been
acquired -and the new -so-called operators have proceeded
to produce coal from these new properties. The result
has always been a long succession of mistakes and
failures, since such operations are largely an experi-
ment at every step. This deplorable condition of affairs
has been particularly true of the small "one-horse '
mines, and the wagon mines; but many instances of much
larger operations could be cited in both the eastern and
western coal fields. Fallen-in entries, tumbled-down
tipples, and brush covered railroad spurs are the common
ear marks of the present day failure of this kind of
coal mining.
   The ultimate results of such mining methods are
obvious upon casual inspection. The experienced operator
using systematic methods calls it "ground-hogging" coal;
but no term of derision is strong enough to adequately
describe the practice. Without method or principle, the
would-be operator removes that coal which is most easily
obtained. He runs his entries in all directions, and
generally has no mine map to show what amount of coal
he has moved and what remains to be operated. His
rooms are of all sizes, shapes, and descriptions, generally
untimbered, with slate and coal "gobbed" at the right
or the left, as has suited best his present convenience.
Mine water has been given little if any attention, and not
infrequently whole rooms are drowned out and abandoned
long before they are completely mined. In the end this
kind of coal mining leaves not infrequently 50 to 75 per
cent of the coal in the ground as pillars, walls, partly cut,
drowned out and unmined units.


20


THE AGE OF WASTE


   When lie has brought his property into this state of
chaos, the untrained operator generally abandons it, and
turns to virgin properties for a repetition of the same
performance. The coal remaining in such abandoned
properties generally is, or will be within a few years,
beyond recovery. Due to the softening effects of mine
water, roofs will have fallen in, pillars will have collapsed,
and other conditions developed which will make the
future operation on any such property not only extremely


              IGNORANCE RESULTING IN LOSS
  This well which is located in Clay County was an excellent gasser. It
was left without proper casing and tubing. Salt water softened a shale
at some depth and it caved in, ruining the hole and shutting off the gas.


hazardous and expensive, but quite impossible from a
commercial standpoint. Instead of mining practically
all of his coal as engineering methods allow, he has left
a very large percentage in the ground. This portion,
whatever it amounts to, has been lost to the world for all
time. It has been deliberately wasted!


21


22  NATURAL GAS OF KED;NTUCKY


           IGNORANCE PRODUCES OIL LOSSES

   In Kentucky's oil fields, the same kind of wasteful
operator may lie found at every hand. With nothing
better to do, he organizes an oil company and starts to
drill wells without any idea as to the geological or drilling
problems which he must encounter. He is almost certain
to drill through the oil sands "by mistake," allowing the
oil in inanv cases to drain away into porous strata below,
or the salt water of underlying strata to find its way up
into the oil sand.
   Any of these practices operate to bring ruin on the
property.  If continued over a number of adjoining
productive leases they will endanger the life and pro-
ductivity of the field by dissipating the oil in the sand.
In the terms of the driller, such practices bring about a
"drowning out" of the petroleum. The inexperienced
operator, if lie strikes gusher oil, is generally not pre-
pared to save it, and in any event will lose much at the
casinghead. Not infrequently he will tank it in an open
tank for several months or years, while he is making a
shift to get a pipe-line connection, and occasionally loses
it by fire or other disaster before he can run it into a line.
   If the first well is a small producer, he will frequently
abandon it, as lie thinks temporarily. In the meantime
water will take possession of it and ruin its productive
qualities. If lie has developed gas in small quantities
with his oil, lie will let the well blow open, thinking that
by reducing the rock pressure of his gas he will increase
at the same time the flow of the oil. He very seldom
obtains the selfish results desired, however, but does
generally succeed in disrupting the proper relationship
of gas and oil reserves of his own lease. His practices
also tend to work havoc with the properties of adjoining


22


THE AGE OF WASTE


leases, and frequently the entire field. Instead of setting
up such forces in the oil "sand" as might result in an
increased accumulation of commercial petroleum, he
not infrequently develops a greater tendency toward
petroleum dissemination. This ultimately results in mak-
ing the field less commercial and less productive than at
the time the well was drilled in. When it is taken into
consideration that between 50 per cent and 80 per cent
of all the oil originally in the "sand" will remain in the
ground after present producing methods have been
exhausted, the total loss, including that induced by
ignorance and folly, is very great indeed.
   Irregularity of pumping any group of wells in an oil
field will induce the pasting up of the oil sands with
natural waxes to such an extent that wells so attended
will naturally fall off gradually in their production. In
abandoning his property, if it is not a large producer,
many an operator has pulled the casing and failed to
plug the water and oil sands. The result of this unlawful
practice, as might be cited in some of the Knox County,
Kentucky, fields, has been to fill the oil sands wvith water.
The oil which these sands contained is slowly but surely
driven out of commercial pools under the water pressure,
and widely disseminated through new and unknown
regions adjacent. Wherever this oil spoilation has taken
place the present generation may be accused of a wanton
mineral resource waste, the great value of which it is
quite as impossible to estimate as it is to recover.

           NATU RAL GAs WASTE STATEWIDE

   The natural gas fields of Kentucky are well acquainted
with the reckless operator. In this State hundreds of
excellent gas wells have been drilled in eastern, western


23


NATURAL GAS OF KENTUCKY


and southern Kentucky, and have been allowed to return
unused their priceless treasure to the atmosphere.
Notable examples of this practice, which it is true in
recent years has been somewhat corrected, occur in the


            A GASSER CORRECTLY CLOSED IN
  Although the drilling rig is still at this location, the driller has already
got his well "closed in" and is saving the gas.

Floyd, Johnson, Barren, Green, Taylor, and Grayson
County gas fields. Some eastern Kentucky wells have


24


THE AGE OF WASTE


been allowed in the recent past to blow open for years,
and the guilty parties who have perpetrated an irrepar-
able wrong not only against the field, but against the
consuming public, have gone unreprimanded.
   The public in general has been slow to realize that
natural gas exists, like all other material things, in a
perfectly definite though largely an unknown quantity.
All natural gas pools contain, could we but figure it, a cer-
tain number of cubic feet of gas, and no more. When
this amount of gas is used up or otherwise dissipated, it
can never be replenished. It is a mistaken conception,
but a common one, that natural gas fields will "come
back," if they are not drawn upon for a while. Nothing
could be more fallacious. Natural gas fields, coal fields,
oil fields, and all mineral resources to which we may turn
our hand in a time of need, exist in a certain amount,
which can never be increased. We may use them care-
fully, like the thrifty housewife, and extend their period
of productivity over a relatively long time; or we may
squander them recklessly, priceless as they are, much like
the sailor in port. If we do the latter, we will find to our
sorrow as a people that what we once thought was an
unlimited mineral resource birthright, was in fact a very
limited resource, quite susceptible of exhaustion by our
modern methods of exploitation.


25


CHAPTER II


       NATURAL GAS RESOURCES

                OF KENTUCKY

   The commercial production of natural gas in the
State of Kentucky dates back to the year 1863, when the
old Moreman well near Brandenburg in Meade County,
Kentucky, was drilled. It was utilized in the manu-
facture of salt from brines which were found associated
with the gas in this and other wells in the Brandenburg
district. For a number of years this Ohio River field was
the only one of much importance in the State, but with
the discovery of natural gas in large amounts in Ohio
and West Virginia in the middle 80's, increased activity
at once set in, which resulted in the laying of an 8-inch
transmission line from the Brandenburg field to Louis-
ville. The metropolis of Kentucky, situated 30 miles to
the northeast of this gas field, thus became the first large
consumer, and the Kentucky Rock Gas Company, later
the Kentucky Heating and Lighting Company, which
supplied the natural gas, became the first public utilities
corporation giving natural gas service.
   The development of the natural gas resources of Ken-
tucky has been one of gradual rather than rapid increase.
At least six rather distinctive periods may be noted in
the growth of this industry. These are as follows:
   (1) (1750-1872) Period of no commercial develop-
ment. From the time of early explorations in Kentucky
up to and including the drilling in of the Moreman
property, natural gas was known, its inflammable quali-


NATURAL GAS RESOUERCES OF KENTUCKY


ties were recognized, but it lacked commercialization.
(2) (1873-1892) Period of early commercialization of
natural gas. Meade and Breckinridge County gas fields
chief source of supply. (3) (1893-1905) Period of wide-
spread exploration. Development of large gas production
in Martin County. Discovery of the Menifee County
field. Initial declines of Aleade and Breckinridge Coun-


         GAS PIPE LINE CONSTRUCTION IN TIMBER
  Before gas mains can be laid in the mountain region of Eastern Ken-
tucky, timber-cutting crews must follow the line surveyed and clear away
all trees and underbrush.


ties. (4) (1906-1912) Period of eastern Kentucky
natural gas exploitation. Drilling up of the Martin
County field. Development of the Menifee County field;
gradual depletion of Meade and Breekinridge County
fields to very small figure. (5) (1913-1917) Period of


27


NAI1URAL GAS OF KENTUCKY


importation from  West Virginia and Ohio. Martin
County becomes the chief developed source of Kentucky
natural gas. Meade and Alenifee Counties practically
abandoned. (6) (1918-1921) Period of intensive develop-
ment throughout Kentucky. Martin County still a small
gas producer. Johnson, Breathitt, Floyd, and other
counties become large producers of natural gas in
Kentucky.


               A STANDARD DRILLING RIG
  This gas well is located on the Kentucky side of the Tug Fork of the
Big Sandy River in Martin County near Kermit, W. Va. Standard der-
ricks are used in drilling for the deeper gas "sands.''

   Up to and including the year 1890, Meade County was
the only natural gas producing field of much importance
in the State, and continued so until the opening of the
Martin County field in 1893. The gas production from
Martin County was not utilized, however, to any extent


28


NATURAL GAS RESOURCES OF KENTUCKY


until the laying of the United Fuel Gas Company's main
transmission line up the Big Sandy Valley in 1905.
Martin County increased its production rapidly until
1915, and from that date has decreased quite as steadily.


                A TAYLOR COUNTY GASSER
  The Green-Taylor County gas field northwest of Campbellsville is a
large field of low rock pressure. The gas "sand" is a limestone.

The MAenifee County field was drilled up on an extensive
scale in 1904, and was of considerable importance until
about 1913, when depletion set in very rapidly. With


29


NATURAL GAS OF KENTUCKY


the depletion in the Meade, Martin and M1enifee County
fields a certainty, public utilities corporations in Ken-
tucky were forced to make increasingly large importa-
tions of natural gas from West Virginia and Ohio.
   It became apparent in 1917 and 1918 that the supply-
ing limit of the Columbia Gas and Electric Company of
West Virginia through the Kermit Station had been
reached. Following leads established by a large number
of indexing gas wells in Eastern Kentucky, an intensive
drilling campaign was instituted in Johnson, 3Magoffin,
Floyd, Breathitt and Knott Counties which has resulted
in the development during the last four years of several
gas fields of recognized importance in Eastern Kentucky.
The chief of these from a standpoint of present com-
mercial value is the Beaver Creek field in Floyd County.
Close seconds are the Ivyton, Win, Red Bush, Flat Gap,
and Frozen Creek gas fields in the eastern part of the
State. During this same period, widespread drilling by
petroleum "wildcatters" has resulted in the discovery of
a large number of more or less isolated gas wells and gas
fields in various portions of the State. One of the largest
and most important of the several natural gas fields thus
found is that which has been outlined in Green and Tay-
lor Counties in central Kentucky.
   In the year 1921 commercial production of natural
gas in Kentucky amounted to approximately 4,742,000 AIL
cubic feet, valued to the consumer at 1,360,340.00. The
consumption of natural gas in the State in the year 1918,
the latest for which figures are available, amounted to
12,200,190 M cubic feet, valued to the consumer at
3,093,393.00, and was about 300 per cent greater than
the production. The total volume of natural gas con-
sumed in Kentucky in 1921 was without doubt much
greater than this amount. With an annual consumption


30


NATURAL GAS RESOURCES OF KENTUCKY


in Kentucky of such large amounts of natural gas, and a
rapidly growing list of domestic consumers, which in
1918 totaled 90,849, an understanding of the natural
gas reserves of this State becomes one of very great
importance. A detailed consideration of the thirty-one
separate gas fields of Kentucky, (1) developed and
depleted; (2) partially developed and producing; and
(3) indexed by discovery wells, but not commercialized,
is given herewith:

          KENTUCKY NATURAL GAS POOLS.
                            I.
 1. Cloverport, Breckinridge Co -
 2. Diamond Springs, Logan Co -
 3. Martin Co -Gas pools of yester-
 4. Meade Co-r day, old or aban-
 5. Menifee Co --                      doned.
 6. Monticello, Wayne Co -
                           II.
 1. Barbourville, Knox Co-
 2. Beaver Creek, Floyd Co          l
 3. Central City, Muhlenberg Co -
 4. Elk Fork, Morgan Co-            i
 5. Flat Gal), Johnson Co -
 6. Frozen Creek, Breathitt Co--     Gas pools of to-day,
 7. Glasgow, Barren Co -               production used in
 8. Green River, Green and Taylor Cos-' Kentucky  towns
 9. Ivyton, Magoffin Co-    -          and cities.
 10. Leitchfield, Grayson Co-        I
 11. Prestonsburg, Floyd Co -
 12. Redbush, Johnson Co -
 13. Williamsburg, Whitley Co -
 14. Winn, Johnson Co -
                          III.


1. Hiseville, Barren Co
2. Island Creek, Owslev Co
3. Meredith, Grayson CJo
4. Mize, Morgan Co
5. Newcombe Creek, Elliott Co
6. Oneida, Clay Co ----
7. Penrod, Muhlenberg Co
8. Sparta, Gallatin Co
9. Rock Fork, Knott Co
10. Sexton Creek, Clay Co
11. Temple Hill, Barren Co


Gas pools of to-
morrow -probably
of commercial im-
portance, but size
undetermined. Un-
connected by pipe
lines.


31


NATURAL GAS oF KENTUCKY


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32


NATURAL GAs RESOURCES OF KENTUCKY


            FROZEN CREEK GAS FIELD-(1)
   GEOGRAPHY-This field is located in north-central
Breathitt, near the Wolfe County line. The nearest town
is Taulbee. The wells are drilled along Negro, Sulphur,
and Clear Creeks, all branches of Frozen Creek.
   GEOLOGY-The natural gas found here occurs in the
upper part of a small dome, the axis of which runs about
20 degrees north of east, and with its approximate crest
about one mile up Negro Fork of Frozen Creek. Produc-
tion is secured in the Corniferous (Devonian) limestone
at about 1,800 feet. Structural maps of Breathitt County
showing this dome have been published by the Kentucky
Geological Survey.
   HISTORY-The first well was drilled in the field by the
Big Six Oil Company in September, 1918. Its open flow
was 3,500,000 cubic feet, and its rock pressure 525 pounds.
A second well was drilled in November. During the
following year two more wells were drilled, and efforts
made to market the gas. In June, 1920, a contract was
made with the Central Kentucky Natural Gas Company,
and preparations to connect with the main line of this
company were begun.
   By the winter of 1920-1921 a 10-inch line was com-
pleted, and deliveries of gas started. By that time ten
wells had been drilled, of which five were dry holes. The
total open flow developed was 18,000,000 cubic feet, and
the</pre>