THE MINERAL INDUSTRY OF COLORADO 
195 
 
8.9 billion. Morgan and Baca Counties also had gas sales of 5 billion cubic
feet or more. 
 The Ignacio-Blanco field, La Plata County, was the most productive dry-gas
field in the State; output of 33.8 billion cubic feet was from three reservoirs
(Dakota, Fruitland-Pictured Cliffs, and Mesaverde, all of Cretaceous age).
Other major dry-gas fields were: Piceance Creek, 9.9 billion cubic feet;
Divide Creek, 6.4 b~llion; and West Hiawatha, 4.9 billion. Production from
the Piceance Creek field more than ' doubled owing to additional drilling
in and production from the Wasatch A and Wasatch G reservoirs. 
 The Rangely-Weber reservoir yielded the largest quantity of wet-gas, 14.5
billion cubic feet. Of this output, 6.7 billion cubic feet were reinjected
after the liquids were removed. Output of Powder Wash field was 4.7 billion
cubic feet. The Wilson Creek field had wet-gas production of 3.9 billion
cubic feet, of which 2.7 billion were reinjected after extraction of fluids.

 The American Gas Association mc, (AGA) and the American Petroleum Institue
(API)8 estimated that the gas reserves in the State totaled 1.8 trillion
cubic feet, a 7.1-percent increase. Extensions and reinsions of existing
fields accounted for 159.6 billion cubic feet of the additional gas; new
fields and poois accounted for 76.7 billion cubic feet. 
 The five natural gas storage projects, with an ultimate capacity of 25 billion
cubic feet, contained at yearend 15.4 billion cubic feet.9 With 13.6 billion
cubic feet in storage at the beginning of the year, 6.8 ' billion cubic feet
were injected and 5 billion withdrawn. Largest of the projects was the Fort
Morgan field, owned by Cokrado Interstate Gas Co. (CIG). Its capacity was
13.9 billion; at yearend, it had in storage 9.8 billion cubic feet. Next
in size and storage was the Springdale field, Logan County, owned by Kansas-Nebraska
Natural Gas Co. In Jefferson County the Leyden mine of PSCo was ranked third,
followed by the company's Asbury Creek field in Mesa County and by the House
Creek field, Montezuma County, owned by Plateau Natural Gas Co. 
 In the spring CIG built 57 miles of 16inch gas pipeline from its Fort Morgan
storage field to Denver. The $1.96 million line was to deliver 64 million
cubic feet of 
gas per day to supplement pipeline supplies during periods of peak demand.

 One of the significant discoveries of the year was the Andy's Mesa field
discovered by Union Oil Company of California. The discovery well, Union's
No. 1 Andy's Mesa-Federal, sec 34, T 44 N, R 16 W (NMPM), San Miguel County,
was drilled to 8,509 feet and completed from the Hermosa group (Pennsylvanian)
from the interval 5,386 to 8,442 feet. Daily initial potential production
was 3.1 million cubic feet. At yearend the field had three shut-in gas wells
and was to be supplied with a pipeline outlet. 
 
 Natural Gas Liquids.—Production of natural gas liquids declined 7
percent; the output value, however, was down only 4 percent. 
 The 16 plants in the State processed 88.8 billion cubic feet of gas which
yielded 
2.98 million barrels of liquids.10 The API and AGA estimated natural—gas
liquids reserves at yearend to be 22.9 million barrels, a 2.7-million-barrel,
11-percent decline. 
 Late in 1966 Texaco Inc. commenced operations at its new Wilson Creek plant,
Rio Blanco County; the refrigeration process plant had a daily input capacity
of 10.5 million cubic feet. The Bijou plant of Associated Oil & Gas.
Co., Morgan County, was not operated after April; the McWood Corp. plant
at Roggen-Southwest, Weld County, was operated only in January. 
 Continental Oil Co. planned a 229million-cubic-foot-per-day adsorption plant
in Rio Blanco County. With completion planned in late 1968 anticipated daily
output will be 18,300 gallons. 
 
 Oil Shale—In January the U.S. Department of the Interior proposed
a five-point policy for developing oil shale in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming:
(1) Action to clear title to public oil shale lands burdened with mining
claims; (2) possible exchanges of scattered private oil shale lands for concentrated
blocks of public land; 
 
8 American Gas Association, Inc., American 
Petroleum Institute, and Canadian Petr&eu~n 
Association. Reserves of Crude Oil, Natural Gas 
Liquids, and Natural Gas in the United states 
and Canada as of Dec. 31, 1967. V. 22, May 
1968, p. 125. 
9 Reference cited in footnote 7, Part Ill, p 
16. 
10 Reference cited in footnote 7, Part IV, p. 
5.