1 Compiled by Oil Conservation Board of Montana.' Data supplied by L. G.
Snow, acting supervisor, Geological Survey, U. S. Department of the InteT1o~.
1130 MINERALS YEARBOOK, 1941


Geological Survey, indicates that gas completions and new capacity fell off
sharply in 1941 from the 1940 totals. Of the 18 gas wells drilled, 9 were
in the Polo field, Caidwell County (a 1940. discovery), and had a total daily
open-flow capacity of 4.4 million cubic feet. The Prairie Point field, Platte
County, had 5 new wells with total daily capacity of 7.9 million cubic feet;
4 small wells were drilled in Jackson County. No new gas areas were opened.
 Monktna.—Completion of 59 gas wells in 1941 marked a continued expansion
in gas development since the low point in L938, when only 21 were reported.
A report by L. G. Snow, acting supervisor, Geological Survey, United States
Department of the Interior, Casper, Wyo., is the source of information. Only
one new well was in wildcat territory; drilled in sec. 18, T. 35 N., R. 4
E., Liberty County, it opened the Haystack Butte field in November 1941,
when it flowed 1.3 million cubic feet of gas a day from two sands in the
Colorado shale at 1,938 and 2,162 feet.
 Twenty-nine wells were drilled at Bowdoin to comply with lease agreements
and to prepare for unitization of the field. The KevinSunburst area had 9
gas completions; Cedar Creek had 7. The remainder of the new wells were scattered
in other fields.
 Marketed production increased 7 percent in 1941 to 27,319,244,000 cubic
feet. Production of the Bowdoin field more than doubled, as it supplied a
substantial portion of the gas requirements of the pipeline system formerly
dependent on Cedar Creek alone. Cedar Creek withdrawals were reduced 12 percent
to conserve its gas reserve for future peak loads. The production rates of
other fields did not change radically from 1940. It is estimated that 13,214
million cubic feet of gas were used for domestic and commercial purposes
(increase, 14 percent) and 14,152 million for industrial purposes (increase,
1 percent).
 The two active gasoline plants in Montana processed 7 percent more
gas in 1941 than in 1940. The absorption plant at Cut Bank handled
10,565 million cubic feet, from which it extracted over 4 mfflion gallons
of natural gasoline and liquefied gases. At the Dry Creek plant,
200 million cubic feet of gas were processed and 59,000 gallons of
natural gasoline recovered.

Number of wells and natural gas produced in Montana in 1941, by fields
Field
Number of

ducing gas

1941 1
Marketed

feet)'
Gas used

(Mcu1~ic
feet)'
Estimated

(Mcubic
Estimated

(Meubic
)
Bowdoin                        
Bowes                          
BoxElder                       
Cedar Creek 
Cut Bank                       
Devon                          
DryCreek                       
Hardin                         
Haystack Butte,.                  
Kevin-Sunburst -
Whitlash                        

Potal Montana               
93

13

7

159

87

9

6

61

1

190

17
2,334,855

577,240

479,393

6,642,516

11,426,478

310.664

1,060,381

82,071

13,152

3,408,472

984,022
7,200
 
500






20,000
2,000






1,000






500






10,000






100,000






500






2~000






800






1,500






18,250






100

643
27,319,244
7,200
20,500
136,650