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NATURAL GAS

There are two natural gas producing areas in Arkansas, (1) the area in the western end of the Arkansas Valley, east and south of Fort Smith, including Scott, Sebastian, Crawford and Johnson Counties, and (2) the area in southwestern Arkansas which includes Union, Ouachita and Columbia Counties. The gas produced in these two areas originates in two entirely different series of rocks. The western Arkansas fields obtain gas from the Atoka shales of Pennsylvanian age, while the south Arkansas fields are supplied from the Upper Cretaceous beds of the Coastal Plain.

The Arkansas Valley Area

The producing gas fields of the Arkansas Valley area are known as the Mazzard Prairie, Mansfield, Kibler-Williams, Alma, and Clarksville fields (see accompanying map). All of these fields derive their production from the Atoka formation which underlies the productive coal measure beds and makes up the surface of the eastern portion of the Arkansas River Valley of the State. The daily average production of the fields in this area during 1925 was approximately 11,600,000 cubic feet per day.

The Mazzard Prairie field lies about six miles southeast of Fort Smith in Sebastian County on a well defined anticline. The field was discovered on November 5, 1904, and has been producing ever since. As stated, the gas is derived from the Atoka shale and sandstone formation. The producing field covers an area of about 3,800 acres. There are two producing horizons in this area, one encountered between 1,190 and 1,402 feet and which varies in thickness from 40 to 260 feet, and the second encountered between 2,100 and 2,260 feet and varying in thickness from approximately 75 to 100 feet. When this field was originally discovered, the rock pressure on the shut-in wells was approximately 220 pounds in the lower sand. At the present time the rock pressure is about 25 pounds on shut-in wells, and it is therefore necessary to use pressure pumps to supply the mains. The open flow of the largest wells of this field is at the rate of 4,250,000 cubic feet per day. The present production of the entire field is about 1,100,000 cubic feet per day from 69 wells. Gas is used for domestic purposes in Fort Smith. The cost of drilling in this area varies from 65 cents to $2.00 per foot. The following are analyses of the Mazzard Prairie gas according to the U. S. Bureau of Mines:

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The Mansfield field lies partly in Scott and partly in Sebastian Counties (see accompanying map). The field was discovered in

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1902 and covers an area of approximately 2,500 acres. Drilling in this area starts approximately 3,000 feet below which was once the top of the Atoka shale and as the wells penetrate to over 2,000 feet, the indications are that at least the first 5,000 feet of Atoka shale are good for commercial gas production. Four producing sands have been encountered. These are encountered at the following depths:

First sand-863-1,385 feet.

Second sand-1,645-1,725 feet.
Third sand-1,750-1,870 feet.
Fourth sand-1,970-2,047 feet.

The thickness of each of these sands are respectively, 22-60 feet. 76-142 feet, 10-30 feet, and 10-101 feet. The initial rock pressure of the 1,200 foot sand when the field was originally discovered was 315 pounds and the present day rock pressure is about 265 pounds. The open flow in the largest wells in this field was about 4,500,000 feet per day and the average gas drawn from the field during 1926 averaged approximately 380,000 feet per day according to Leigh Kelly. There are eight wells reported as now producing in this field. The gas is used domestically in Huntington and Mansfield but the major portion is used for brick burning by the Choctaw Brick and Gas Company of Mansfield. The cost of drilling in this field is about $8,000 for a 2,000 foot well.

The Kibler field which makes up the northern portion of the Kibler-Williams area is located in southern Crawford County on the productive coal measure beds and derives its production from the underlying Atoka formation. The field was discovered in November, 1915, and covers an area of about 5,600 acres. There are two producing sands in this area which are encountered between approximately 1,115 and 1,500 feet, and 1,950 and 2,400 feet respectively. The first sand has a thickness of about 200 feet and the second a thickness of 135 feet. The porous zones in the upper sand is about 30 feet in thickness and that in the lower sand is 36 feet. When the field was first discovered, the rock pressure was approximately 220 pounds on the shallow sand and 260 pounds on the deep sand. At the present time, the rock pressure on both sands is about 80 pounds. The open flow on the largest wells in this field from the shallow sand was about 3,000,000 cubic feet per day and from the deep sand, about 21,000,000 cubic feet per day. The field is producing about 4,000,000 cubic feet per day at the present time (December, 1926) from 34 producing wells. The gas is used in Van Buren and Fort Smith for domestic and industrial purposes.

The Williams field was discovered in December, 1918 and makes up the southern portion of the Kibler-Williams area in southern Crawford County. The gas is produced from the Atoka sandstone and shale formation. The Williams field covers an area of about 7,600 acres and the two producing horizons are directly related to those of the Kibler field but are 200 feet deeper. The shallow sand is encountered at approximately from 1,315 to 1,700 feet and the

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deep sand from 2,150 to 2,600 feet and have thicknesses of approximately 200 and 135 feet respectively. The initial rock pressure of the gas in this field when it was first discovered was 220 pounds in the shallow and 265 pounds in the lower sand. The present day rock pressure is about 100 pounds in each sand. The field is at present (December, 1926) producing between 8,000,000 and 10,000,000 cubic feet per day and is being used in the Van Buren and Fort Smith domestic and industrial gas mains.

The following are four analyses from the Kibler-Williams gas, according to the U. S. Bureau of Mines:

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The Alma field was discovered in October, 1922, and is located about 2 miles north of the Kibler-Williams area in southern Crawford County near Alma. The production comes from the Atoka formation. The field covers an area of about 1,500 acres and, as in the Kibler-Williams field, there are 2 producing sands. The shallow is encountred from 1,400- 1,936 feet and the deep sand from 2,4002,800 feet. The initial rock pressure in this field was 330 pounds on the shallow sand and 420 pounds on the deep. At the present time (December, 1926) the shallow sand has a rock pressure_of 100 pounds and the deep sand, 175 pounds to the square inch. The largest wells in this area have an open flow of about 30,000,000 cubic feet per day. At the present time the field is producing about 2,900,000 cubic feet per day from 30 wells, 7 of which are from the shallow sand and 23 from the deep sand. Gas is used in the domestic and industrial mains which supply Van Buren and Fort Smith.

In addition to the Crawford County wells mentioned, there has been a recent extension of the Alma field covering probably 6,400 acres and known as the Smelter area. This has not yet been developed. There is also a westwardly extension from the Williams field. which covers about 2,000 acres and has not yet been developed.

The Clarksville field is at present in the process of development. The Empire Gas & Fuel Company completed a well on December 9, 1925, in Section 14, Township 10 north, Range 24 west, about six miles northwest of Clarksville, Johnson County. They encountered a. gas sand at 2,892 feet. The open flow from the sand was estimated at 11,500,000 cubic feet per day and the rock pressure 1,000 pounds. It is planned to pipe this gas southeast through the Arkansas Valley and supply Clarksville, Russellville, Morrillton and Conway. The well is located near the edge of the coal measure beds on an anticline and derives its production in the Atoka formation.

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