Texas Almanac, 1939-1940 Page: 222
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222 THE TEXAS ALMANAC.--1939.
Repressuring, Recycling and Storing.
as 75 per cent of the original reservoir con-
tent by intelligent pressure maintenance op-
erations.
There are three principal procedures now
being advocated by members of both indus-
tries to eliminate the major portion of such
waste: (1) pressure maintenance or repres-
suring in oil-producing formations, which
consists of returning gas to the reservoir
after it has brought the oil to the surface;
(2) recycling of gas for the recovery of dis-
tillate-in this the gas is taken from the
wells at high well-head pressures, reduced in
pressure and cooled to permit extraction of
some of the heavier hydrocarbons, and
pumped back to the return well by means of
high-pressure compressors; and (3) the stor-
age of excess gas production in depleted res-
ervoirs for future consumption when needed.
Under most circumstances any one of
these operations scientifically and intelli-
gently carried out will prove to be profitable,
leaders of the industry believe. In conclusion,
one leading gas engineer states that while
the processes described above have not yet
been accorded widespread acceptance and
application, if given the opportunity to con-
tinue with investigations and research, petro-
leum engineers, geologists and physicists may
be expected more nearly to approach agree-
ment and the final solution to the conserva-
tion problem.
NATURAL GAS PRODUCTION.
Production and value of natural gas in Texas
by years :
(Production in millions; value in thousands.)
Prod'n Prod'n
Year. (c. ft.) Value. Year. (cu. ft.) Value.
1909 .. ..... $127 1924 ..107,247 $13,748
1910 ....... 447 1925 ..127,997 19,715
1911 .. ..... 1,014 1926 ..175,392 28,165
1912 .. ..... 1,405 1927 ..254,063 37,424
1913 .. ..... 2,073 1928 ..301,990 51,316
1914 .. ..... 2,469 1929 ..464,928 67,474
1915....... 2,593 1930 ..517,880 71,873
1916 .. 15,809 3,143 1931 ..464,580 73,868
1917 .. 17,042 3,192 1932 ..456,832 91,092
1918 .. 13,429 5,027 1933 ..475,691 88,264
1919 .. 24,710 6,000 1934 ..602,976 95,270
1920 .. 37,063 7,042 1935 ..642,360 102,100
1921 .. 44,504 8,893 1936 ..734,561 113,929
1922 .. 47,945 10,623 1937 ..854,561 132,456
1923 -- 74,535 11,320
NATURAL GASOLINE.
Natural gasoline, also called natural gas
gasoline and casinghead gasoline, might fall
under either the heading of mineral or manu-
factured product, but is usually classed by
government reports with minerals. Texas
usually ranks second to California in pro-
duction. However, the production in 1937,
latest available report of the United States
Bureau of Mines, shows Texas with the larg-
est production and a larger production than
that of California in the preceding year.
Natural gasoline is the gasoline which is
taken from natural gas. Some natural gases
have no gasoline, but a large part of the
Texas gases are so-called "wet" gases. Sepa-
ration of the gasoline from the gas is accom-
plished by compression, giving rise to the
term "casinghead gasoline," or by absorption
and occasionally by charcoal process. The
natural gasoline is not readily marketable as
it is recovered because it is highly volatile.
Most of it is taken by refineries for use in
making blended gasolines. The volume of nat-
ural to refined gasoline from crude petroleum
has increased rapidly in recent years. Natural
gasoline producing plants are located through-
out the oil and gas fields of North Central,
West and Northwest Texas. The largest nat-ural gasoline industry is in the Panhandle.
Carbon black is largely a byproduct of the-
natural gasoline industry.
Production and Value Texas Natural Gasoline.
(Production and Value in Thousands.)
Prod'n Prod'n
Year. (Gals.) Value. Year. (Gals.) Value.
1916... 1,293 $201 1927 .. 320,723 $18,346.
1917... 6,920 1,149 1928... 324,516 22,492
1918... 7,326 1,215 1929... 419,485 26,561
1919... 9,336 1,773 1930... 491,299 23,596,
1920... 32,956 5,771 1931... 426,695 11,887
1921... 77,141 9,118 1932... 352,500 12,438.
1922... 95,405 12,115 1933... 366,515 11,562
1923... 177,765 14,752 1934... 466,570 12,366
1924... 186,571 14,600 1935... 516,748 16,839
1925 .. 214,092 22,606 1936 .. 520,547 19,670
1926 .. 232,200 15,650 1937 615,281 24,329
-CARBON BLACK.
Texas is the leading carbon black producing
state, accounting for about 80 per cent of the
nation's supply. Carbon black might be
classed either as mineral or manufactured
product, but it is usually placed with the
minerals by the government departments in
their reports. Carbon black is made by burn-
ing natural gas against moving bands of sheet
metal. The unburned carbon is deposited and
scraped off into containers, a simple proce-
dure known as the channel process. There are
other processes that obtain a higher percent-
age of carbon black but they are more expen-
sive in operation. At one time, the manufac-
ture of carbon black from natural gas was
illegal in Texas, and it is still restricted to
sour gases and to gas production that would.
otherwise be wasted. The yield of carbon
black by the ordinary process is only about
1.5 pounds for each thousand feet of gas
burned. Nearly all of the carbon black of
Texas is produced in the Panhandle gas field,
though there is a small production from
plants in Eastland, Stephens, Ward and
Winkler Counties. Carbon black is a highly
essential mineral for many manufacturing
processes, most of it going into the produc-
tion of automobile tires and other rubber
products.
Production and Value of Texas Carbon Black.
(Production and Value in Thousands.)
Prod'n Prod'n
(Pounds).Value. (Pounds).Value.
1925... 26,220 * 1932... 200,440 $5,561)
1926... 36,328 $1,199 1933... 218,655 6,060
1927... 56,396 3,519 1934... 262,290 9,260
1928... 100,828 5,690 1935... 287,874 11,190
1929... 228,183 11,700 1936... 333,906 13,290
1930... 271,749 10,610 1937... 421,068 14,010'
1931 .. 210,878 6,450
*Not reported.
COAL AND LIGNITE.
Twenty-five years ago there was a thriving
coal and lignite mining industry in Texas.
The principal mine throughout a long period
was located at Thurber in the northern part
of Erath County, where the population of
5,000 or 6,000 people were dependent largely
on the industry. Strawn in Palo Pinto Coun-
ty, Bridgeport in Wise County and Newcastle
in Young County were also coal mining cen-
ters. Lignite was mined in Henderson, Hop-
kins, Bastrop, Bexar, Titus, Upshur and other
East Texas counties. Cannel coal was mined
near Olmos in Maverick County, and is still
mined in small quantities. There was for a
considerable period an annual production of
more than a million tons each of coal and lig-
nite, which was not large as modern coal
production goes but it supplied an appreci-
able part of the Texas industrial needs of
that day.
With the discovery of an abundance of
higher grade fuels in oil and gas the coal and
lignite mining industry declined. In 1938
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Texas Almanac, 1939-1940, book, 1939; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117163/m1/224/: accessed May 5, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.