754 
MINERALS YEARBOOK, 1967 
 
land opposite Corpus Christi Bay with the completion of two dual gas producers
in Block 773—L by Texas Gas Exploration Co. and the CSSG Group (Cities
Service, Skelly, Sunray, Getty). 
 The Katy gasfield, the largest single uncommitted gas reservoir in the Nation,
will have its 6.1 trillion cubic feet of gas reserve committed to markets
in Houston, Dallas, and Texas City by five purchasers. Gas volumes involved
in the 20-year contracts include 1.6 trillion cubic feet for Lone Star Gas
Co., 1.1 trillion cubic feet for Humble Oil & Refining Co., 1.9 trillion
cubic feet for United Gas Co., 1 trillion cubic feet for Pan American Gas
Co., and 500 billion cubic feet for Houston Pipe Line Co. The Katy gasfield,
located 30 miles west of Houston, covers 31,000 acres in Harris, Fort Bend,
and Waller Counties. The field is owned by 37 companies and individuals,
all participating in a field-wide gas unit which is operated by Humble Oil
& Refining Co. Of 122 wells in the field, 97 will be used for production
and 25 for injection. To move the gas to the market areas, Lone Star Gas
Co. completed a 219-mile pipeline to its Dallas station near Mesquite to
serve residential and industrial customers in that metropolitan area. United
Gas Pipe Line Co. was building an 18-mile, 30-inch line to connect into the
Houston distribution system on the west side of the city. The company could
also supplement the gas supply to its Beaumont and Port Arthur customers.
Humble Oil & Refining Co. completed a 20-mile, 20-inch line to connect
into its own Houston system at a point northwest of that city. Pan American
Gas Co. will build 68 miles of 20-inch line to connect into its Texas City
delivery system. Houston Pipe Line Co. will build a short 20-inch line to
connect into its own distribution system near the field. 
 Gas production from the 55,000-acre J. M. gasfield in the Val Verde Basin
of West Texas began with the completion of 10 miles of gathering pipelines
and 15 miles of field lines by El Paso Natural Gas Co. 
 Natural Gas Liquids.—Texas remained the Nation's principal producer
of natural gas liquids in 1967, supplying 53 percent of the total domestic
output. Natural gasoline plants processed an average of 21,442 million cubic
feet of gas daily to 
recover 36.9 million gallons of liquids. The number of gasoline plants operated
declined to 404 plants, four less than in 1966. Installed plant capacity
increased 
7 percent to 28,898 billion cubic feet daily over 1966. LP gas accounted
for 65 percent of the recovered liquids; natural gasoline and other cycle
products for the remainder. 
 Texas had the largest underground storage capacity for natural gas liquids
in the Nation in 1967. This capacity totaled 74 million barrels, including
a 150,000-barrel-capacity facility under development. Another storage facility
was planned in a salt dome in Wood County by Enterprise Petroleum Co. Thirty-eight
companies operated 97 underground facilities in 35 counties. The five largest
storage sites and their capacities (in millions of barrels) follow: Warren
Petroleum Corp., Chambers County, salt dome, 12.3; Texas Eastern Transmission
Corp., Chambers County, salt dome, 9.1; Phillips Petroleum Co., Brazoria
County, salt dome with 12 caverns, 7.4; Hutchison County, salt layer with
13 caverns, 3.7; and Tenneco Oil Co., Chambers County, salt dome with seven
caverns, 4.2. 
 The two major divisions of the natural gas liquid industry—LP gas
and natural gasoline—had widely divergent experiences in 1967. Whereas
supply and demand for natural gasoline was in approximate balance with stocks,
declining less than 1 percent, the LP gas industry again faced a serious
over supply situation due to the imbalance of excessive production to de~
mand. While domestic LP gas output advanced 17 percent over that of 1966,
there was little change in demand for refineries and fuels. The net result
was a 50-percent rise in LP gas stocks to 2,376 million gallons. In retrospect,
natural gas liquids output inct-eased 4 percent in 1967, refinery demand
rose more than 4 percent, and fuel and chemical demands increased 7 percent,
while total stocks advanced nearly 65 percent. Fuel and chemical use composed
74 percent of the LP gas market; refineries and other uses constituted the
remaining 26 percent. 
 The industry was building or completing 
12 new gasoline plants with a daily input 
capacity of 1.8 billion cubic feet to recover 
591,000 gallons of combined liquids, according to The Oil & Gas Journal.
The industry also expanded capacities of nine