852 
MINERALS YEARBOOK, 1967 
 
 Natural Gas Liquids.—Production of natural gas liquids in 1967 decreased.
Reserves of all natural gas liquids at yearend 1967 were 82 million (42-gallon)
barrels, about the same as in 1966.2 There were 35 natural gas processing
plants, including 26 small compression plants operated by Pennzoil United,
Inc. Other plants were operated by Consolidated Gas Supply Corp. in Wetzel
County; Owens, Libbey-Owens Gas Department, Union Oil Co. of California,
and United Fuel Gas Co. in Kanawha County; and Union Carbide Corp. in Wetzel
and Kanawha Counties. 
 
 Petroleum and Natural Gas.—Crudd oil production in 1967 was 3.6 million
barrels, about the same as in 1966.~ The wellhead price was maintained at
$4 per barrel. The wellhead price of gas was 24.1 cents per 1,000 cubic feet.
Natural gas production of 211,460 million cubic feet was about the same as
in 1966. The estimated number of producing wells in the State at yearend
1967 was 17,832 gas wells and 12,989 oil wells. 
 There was a sharp decline in oil and gas drilling activity in the State
in 1967. According to the West Virginia Geologic and Ecnomic Survey, during
1967 the State issued 975 permits to drill, deepen, and fracture wells compared
with 1,315 permits for 1966. Drilling was reported in 36 of the State's 55
counties. Total footage drilled was 2,148,391 feet, compared with 3,071,074
feet drilled in 1965. There were 1,960,120 feet of development drilling and
188,271 feet of exploratory tests. The average depth of the wells drilled
was 2,535 feet. A total of 848 wells was drilled in 1967, 359 less than in
1966. Of these 401 were gas wells, 206 oil wells, 127 dry holes, 91 combination
wells, and 23 were miscellaneous wells (storage, injection, etc.). A decline
in drilling for shallow gas was the major factor leading to a decrease in
1967 well totals. There were 42 exploratory wells, of which 25 were successful—24
gas wells and one combination oil and gas producer. 
 Natural gas in storage at yearend 1967 was 346.4 billion cubic feet, 11.5
billion cubic feet more than in 1966. According to the American Gas Association,
by the end of 1967 the State had ultimate gas storage capacity of 415 billion
cubic feet. The two refineries in the State located near Falling Rock and
St. Marys were 
operated at full capacity. Their combined refining capacity of 8,800 barrels
per schedule day of crude oil was not sufficient to refine the entire crude
oil production of West Virginia. According to the West Virginia Geological
and Economic Survey the slight decrease in oil production probably was the
result of refinery limitations which made it necessary for the refineries
to sharply reduce the purchase of oil from new wells. The refineries produced
gasoline, lubricating oil, and waxes. - 
 According to Oil and Gas Journal, the estimated proved reserves of crude
oil at yearend were 56.2 million barrels. Reserves of natural gas at the
end of 1967 were 2,580 billion cubic feet, a decrease of 42 billion cubic
feet from that of 1966. 
 Pennzoil United, Inc., the largest oil producing, refining, and transporting
company in West Virginia; operated 280,000 acres and held leases on 240,000
unoperated acres of property. The company produced 870,000 barrels of Penn
Grade oil and 5 billion cubic feet of natural gas in the State during 1967.
During the year, the company reported significant activity in prospecting
for new primary reserves and developing secondary recovery techniques. It
produced 24 percent of the total crude refined in the company-owned refineries
at Falling Rock, W. Va., and Oil City, Pa. 
 Important discoveries of new gasfields were made in the Newburg Limestone
in Jackson and Kanawha Counties, where gas wells producing 20 million cubic
feet or more per day were completed. Of a total of 68 deep wells drilled
in 1967, 46 were drilled in the Newburg. Thus, it was for the first time
in many years that the Oriskany Sandstone was not the principal deep target
in the State. Of the remaining 22 wells drilled to deep formations, 16 were
drilled to the Onondaga-Oriskany interval, two dry holes to Keefer Sandstone,
and four to Tuscarora Sandstone. The Oriskany Sandstone and its contiguous
units produced gas in 14 wells. In 1967, shallow sand gas discoveries included
a new field in Upshur County, and a new 
 
 
2 American Gas Association. Report of the 
Committee on Natural Gas Reserves. Apr. 8, 1968, table 2. 
 ~ Source: West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey.