Geology and Occurrence of Natural Gas in Amarillo District, Texas

Abstract

Natural gas is found throughout an almost continuous belt extending from central Beckham County, Oklahoma, northwestward to northern Moore County, Texas, and thence northward to and including Morton and Stevens counties, Kansas. This belt of productive gas territory is more than 200 miles in length and ranges from 5 miles to 40 miles in width and embraces an area of proved and semi-proved gas territory of more than 2 million acres, one of the largest and most important gas areas in the world. Gas is produced from beds of Permian and Pennsylvanian age. Accumulation of gas is closely associated with deposition and folding of these beds in relation to a buried mountain range known as the Amarillo Mountains. Natural gas has been known to exist in this area since 1918. From th t time it has developed in economic importance until to-day it occupies first place in production of natural gasoline and carbon black and is rapidly becoming the largest producer of natural gas for domestic and industrial use. Natural gas is now being transported from this district by pipe lines to such distant points as Chicago, Indianapolis, Denver, and Fort Worth. The writers discuss the geologic occurrence of the gas and set forth production data in connection with its utilization.