| Show 1 Natural gas executive predicts great future for Uintah Basin as supplier of Part of address delivered in Roosevelt is printed out last EDITOR'S NOTE is a portion of address delivered by V. T. president of the Mountain Fuel Supply at the annual meeting- of the Roosevelt Chamber of Commerce on June We are printing that part which deals with the natural gas development of the Uintah which was very Informative in light of tho predicted in this area for the Geological exploration wildcat is of importance in our The exploration division of our company has a staff of 21 including 12 geologists and 2 land and working the year This group conducts tho exploration program for new gas Their efforts are concentrated principally in Western Western and Eastern In this general the company owns or controls acres of leased It also owns or holds an interest in acres of producing Our annual dry hole bill for unsuccessful wild-cating varies from 1 to million Exploration undoubtedly is the glamour of our There is a certain charm and enchantment about seeking out nature's finding out if geological conditions are such that oil and gas may be Then proving your deductions in the only way possible drilling a and finding you were wrong in eight out of nine when drilling in wildcat it is but there also is a sober side as it is Wells In the range of The geophysical crews which you have all a The excitement and enchantment which I personally enjoy as a geologist quickly turns into a headache as I enter the door to my executive office and face the problem of finding the money to pay the As you probably business of exploration is an intriguing subject by so I had better pass on to other items of The company's entrance into the Uintah Basin for additional gas supply is of outstanding Importance to future progress and to the gas producers in the We have studied the natural gas possibilities over here for a long Realizing that a pipeline is the surest incentive to wildcat exploration for our first thoughts about a pipeline to this area were put on paper some 12 years But we never could see the minimum amount of gas reserves which would be necessary for an initial We have also furnished money for a number of the dry holes that have been These were just a few of the frustrations I mentioned Only at this time have all of the many problems fitted into an economically desirable addition to our public utility In February of this the company contracted to purchase the natural gas production of DeKalb Agricultural and DeKalb Petroleum located generally immediately south of the White River and East of the They own a majority interest in two gas producing units comprising some the company controls signed contracts for the purchase of gas at the wellhead from 15 independent In we will have our own gas' in that area and gas controlled by the El Paso Natural Gas which is contiguous to the Mountain fuel owns 82 per cent of the island comprising more than acres on which two gas discoveries have been the second well several miles west of the Green River and eight miles west of the initial the center of the gas bearing area to be reached in the Uintah Basin lies about to pipeline miles southeast of Salt Lake The company will produce a fifty per cent interest in the facilities of the Utah Natural Gas Company whose pipeline is now installed between the Clear Creek Gas Field and Mountain Fuel and Utah Natural will then jointly build the new line from Clear to a. central in the new gas producing Field lines will out distance to the various Our company will operate the entire project by leasing the half interest of Utah The foundation for this specific type of arrangement lies the fact that the original pipeline built by Utah Natural between the Clear Creek field and Orem was larger than required by the development of gas reserves in that thus leaving available an excess of pipeline capacity which can now be used for this Uintah The initial survey which Is now being definitely approximates miles of main line to reach the general A joint application to the Public Service Commission of Utah by Mountain Fuel the Utah Natural Gas Company of El Paso Natural Gas requested a certificate of convenience and necessity for the new project and approval of the transfer of ownership in the present Utah Natural Gas Company After public this approval was granted May The pipeline and gathering facilities will cost approximately ten million and completion of construction is set for this It is conservatively estimated that about one trillion cubic feet of gas reserves will become available in that area with further We presently plan on taking a daily supply of million cubic feet from this new source when it is fully Some 25 gas wells are presently shut in awaiting a At least 50 more will be drilled in the very near We foresee an initial daily production of 50 million cubic feet late this The entire project including the producing fields lies within the state of Utah and is here-fore intrastate in None of the independent producers from whom we will purchase gas has any sales problems related to the Federal Power Commission in The company will pay cents per thousand cubic feet at the wellhead at the field pressure base of pounds per square Once the new pipeline opens up a market in that area for the independent gas we predict a rapid increase in natural gas exploration and and an enhanced long range gas supply for the Wasatch front area in It is entirely possible that further exploration will develop several times the one trillion cubic feet which is now In I will give you in round figures just a few statistics on Mountain Fuel Sup-J ply Company and its Our investment in that the the gas processing and operating is We have miles of pipelines connecting gas wells to the meters of The annual gross sales are It is difficult to predict just what might be the improvement in the economy of Eastern Utah by our entrance into this But one can dream J Last for for gas gas' production in our own- fields and pipeline principally in Wyoming and I were Many diverse I items go to make up this but each in its own way works into the over-all As I have mentioned Mountain Fuel draws gas from wells at some 20 Your can be that our operations in the Uintah Basin shortly will be of |
