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Clay County, Texas NOTES ON PETROLIA HELIUM PLANT Submitted by Lucille Glasgow Copied from a publication of the Panhandle-Plains Historical Society owned by Mrs. Sam (Johanna) Householder of Byers, loaned to Lucille Glasgow July 2002: Anderson, C. C., "Helium from a Scientific Curiosity to Large-Scale Production," PANHANDLE PETROLEUM, edited by Bobby D. Weaver, Canyon, Texas: Panhandle-Plains Historical Society, 1982. (Printed by Miller National Corp., Amarillo) "The supply of helium-bearing gas for the Fort Worth plant was transported through a government-owned pipeline from the Petrolia gas field of Clay County, Texas. The gas producing horizon of this field was discovered in October 1907. A commercial pipeline was laid from the field to Fort Worth and Dallas, Texas, in 1909 and from 1911 to 1918 the field was the principal source of gas supply for cities of North Texas. It was recognized that the original gas reserves in the Petrolia field had been depleted considerably by the time the government became interested in it as a source of helium, and that the field would be able to supply the demand for only a few years. However, in spite of its depletion the Petrolia field appeared from data collected hurriedly during the war period to be the source of the largest amount of helium-bearing gas then known. After considering available information, the Navy Department, on January 10, 1919, entered into a ten-year contract with the company operating the Petrolia field to take the gas from it for the extraction of helium, and the company agreed to limit the daily commercial withdrawals to ten million cubic feet. This limitation of the production and the discovery of a new gas area in the northwestern portion of the field, known as the Mortin extension, prolonged the productive life, but by 1925 it became evident that the field was entering the final stage of depletion and that unless new sources of helium-bearing natural gas were obtained the cost of extracting the helium soon would become prohibitive." One gas field considered as a replacement for the Petrolia field was Nocona, in Montague County, since it was only 22 miles from the Petrolia to Fort Worth pipeline, but it was rejected because of the pressure decline because of rapid development of the field for oil. After extensive searches for a favorable location, the Bureau of Mines selected the Cliffside structure, or Bush Dome, in Potter County, Texas, and the Fort Worth plant was moved to a location seven miles west of Amarillo and was in production by May 1929. |