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Show Ml GAS DREAM MAY BEJEAOZED Three Companies Prepare to Drill in Valley Immediately. Applicatiou to the public utilities commission by the Utah Gas & Coke company for an increaae iu rates has furnished fresh stimulus to the various companies preparing to drill for gas in the Walt Lake valley to rush drilling operations. By the development of natural gas the managements of tho various, drilling companies believe that it will be possible to furnish gas to tho residents of .Salt Lake and other towns of the valley at even lower rates than are now in effect. The Jordan River Oil & Gas and the Pioneer Oil fc Gas companies have drilling drill-ing equipment and casing on the ground ready to start operations, which probably" prob-ably" will be under wav before the middle mid-dle of the week. The big derrick cf the Union Oil & Gas company is being erected and should be ready for service by the latter part of the week. The management announced yesterday that sufficient casing bad been obtained to put down tie initial well and that drill ing operations would be started just as soon as the derrick and machinery were in place. In view of the experience of various companies operating in the valley about twenty-five years ago tho managements man-agements of the respective concerns arc confident that big flows of gas will be encountered at depths ranging from .500 to J500 feet. According to tests made by chemists the gas carries around a gallon gal-lon and a half of gasoline and it is the intention of the various companies to extract the gasoline before delivering the dry gas to the different towns for fuel and lighting purposes. It is said that the quality of the gas for fuel and lighting purposes will in no way be affected af-fected by the extraction of the gasoline. It is contended, in fact; that the fuel and lighting qualities will be enhanced by the extraction of tho oil content which ia said to impair the beating and lighting values. Tho Jordan river plans to test out the ground in the vicinity of Bountiful. The Union Oil & Gas will operate west of Farmingtou and the Pioneer near Kaysville, thereby testing thoroughly the gas and oil values of practically all the valley embraced in Davis county. While the development uf natural gas is the chief objective of the various companies it also is planned to test the ground thoroughly tor Oil. That gas can be obtained is indicated by the operations of former companies and it is the belief of the concerns now preparing prepar-ing to begin operations that it will be necessary to go to greater depths to locate lo-cate oil "pools. About twenty years ago Guffey & Galey put a well down in Daws county to a depth of a little more than 2000 feet without obtaining a flow of oil and it is generally believed that if oil is to bo found in commercial quantities that the drills must be sent below the 2000-foot level. Considerable gas flows were encountered in the Guf fey-Galey well, according to the log. at "various depths between the 500 and 1500-foot levels. It is the belief of the managements of the various companies that sufficient suffi-cient natural gas can be developed before be-fore the end of the summer to supply fuel and light not only for the city homes, but for many industries, thereby eliminating or at least lessening; the smoke which hangs heavily over the valley during the winter months. The production of natural gas in quantity also would undoubtedly bring many new industries to the valley, including, possibly, a mue. needed zinc smelter. While all these desirable things are as yet in the dream stage the fact that similar dreams have been realized in other localities lends encouragement to the enterprises which are being attempted. |