REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR I916 



^77 



of Erie county was opened and brought about the large gain in the 

 yield for that year. 



The total flow of natural gas in 1916, according to the reports 

 received from the producers and distributors, was 8,594,187,000 

 cubic feet, as compared with 7,110,040,000 cubic feet in 191 5 and 

 8,714,681,000 cubic feet in 1914. The figures represented a gain of 

 21 per cent in the output in the year and put the industry back in 

 nearly the same place it held in 191 4. The leading counties on the 

 basis of their output were Erie, Chautauqua, Allegany, Cattaraugus 

 and Genesee. 



The value of the production last year was reported as $2,524,115, 

 against $2,085,324 in 191 5. This is based on the prices received 

 for the gas in the different centers of consumption. The mean for 

 the whole State was 29.4 cents a thousand, the same as in 191 5. 

 Actually the prices at which the gas was sold ranged from 20 cents 

 as a minimum to over 50 cents, according to locality. The lowest 

 selling rates were reported in Allegany and Cattaraugus counties, 

 where the local product finds close competition with the Pennsyl- 

 vania output. The isolated districts of Central New York reported 

 the highest prices which as an extreme, however, were only about 

 one-half those obtained for artificial gas elsewhere. 



Production of natural gas 



YEAR 



1904 



1905 

 1906 

 1907 

 1908 

 1909 

 1910 

 1911 

 1912 



1913 

 1914 



1915 

 1916 



OUTPUT 

 1000 CU. FT. 



399 987 



639 130 



007 086 



052 145 



860 000 



825 215 



815 643 

 127 571 



564 659 

 055 429 



8 714 681 



7 no 040 



8 594 187 



VALUE 



I552 



1 

 197 



607 



000 



766 



579 



800 



014 



987 



775 



045 



693 



411 



699 



547 



077 



882 



297 



549 



227 



570 



165 



085 



324 



524 



115 



NUMBER 

 OF WELLS 



925 

 100 



280 



340 



403 

 660 



750 



797 

 051 

 068 



For several years it was the practice to report the production 

 according to the counties and leading districts from which the out- 

 put came. This is no longer possible, as the greater part 



