Gas in Michigan Basin

Abstract

Abstract The first commercial quantities of natural gas were gathered and marketed in 1927 from the Muskegon field of southwestern Michigan. From this date to the present, gas production in Michigan has been from formations that range in geologic age from Mississippian to Ordovician. The total gas produced in the state and metered to market through December 1965 was 485.8 billion cu ft. The remaining recoverable reserve from known productive structures is approximately 236.6 billion cu ft. The highly populated centers in Michigan demand far greater quantities of gas than can be produced in the state. Accordingly, Michigan must rely upon interstate pipeline facilities for adequate natural gas supplies. Because of weather variations, approximately one-third of such supplies must be stored in the summer months and withdrawn during the winter months from local underground gas-storage reservoirs. The quantity of gas imported into the state during 1965 was 546.7 billion cu ft, exceeding by about 61 billion cu ft the total quantity of gas produced throughout the history of the state. Certain gas fields in the Michigan basin have provided excellent underground storage reservoirs for the natural gas industry and are very important to the general economic welfare of the state. Future gas reserves from within the state must come from areas and depths where there has been little or no exploratory drilling. Recent discoveries in the Trenton-Black River of south- central Michigan and the Salina-Niagara of southeastern Michigan have given impetus to the search for oil and gas in the state.