439.    CARTER, D. V.  Gas Conservation in West Texas.  Oil Gas Jour., vol. 45, No. 36, 1947, pp. 74, 76, 77, 86.

                   Paper presented before the American Institute of Mining Engineers in Texas.  It is shown how natural-gas resources can be conserved by way of natural gasoline, gas processing, and pressure maintenance.  Tabulated statistics are shown covering the production and disposition of gas in West Texas for 1944-45.  Another bright feature of utilization is the large-scale production of O₂, reducing the present cost of $70 per ton to about $3 per ton, and its combination with the Fischer-Tropsch or the Hydrocol processes in manufacturing gasoline from natural gas.  Current estimates are that it can be produced for $0.05 per gal. compared with the present cost in the Texas Gulf coast of $0.07 ¼.  Greatly improved yields from these processes, it is estimated, could extract 17 billion bbl. of gasoline from the 175 trillion cu. ft. of present gas reserve in the United States as compared to 10 billion bbl. of gasoline from our presently known oil reserves of 20 billion bbl.  Increase utilization of West Texas gas should result in a higher price for the gas in competition with the manufacture of carbon black.

                   CARTER, S. R.  See abs. 338, 339.