"How we get energy out 
of coal without taking the coal 
out of the ground.” 
“A lot of coal in America — 
millions of tons, in fact— is too deep 
or too slanted to be mined by any 
conventional techniques,” says Gulf 
Engineer Jerry Daniel. “At Gulf, 
we’re working with the Department 
■■ BB EHBMBw aer 'pH 
Air through injection well supports combustion 
of coal at A, fire heats coal at B. which produces 
gas recovered through production well. C. 
of Energy on a way to extract the 
energy from that coal without min- 
ing it. We drill an injection well to 
set fire to the coal . By burning some 
of the coal, we heat up the rest, 
which causes it to produce gas. 
That’s why it’s called underground 
coal gasification. 
“We had a test burn here in 
Rawlins, Wyoming, late in 1979, and 
we’re setting up another one. Our 
hope is that by 1990, industry will be 
able to use this kind of synthetic gas, 
which of course will make us less 
dependent on expensive imported 
crude oil as an energy source. 
“At Gulf, our first priority is to 
get all the oil and natural gas we can 
out of resources right here in 
America. But we’re working on a lot 
of other good ideas, too. Under- 
ground coal gasification is one of 
them; and we’re working with 
synthetic fuels, tar sands, geother- 
mal energy, and other alternative 
energy sources. 
“Overall, you might say that the 
business we’re really in is the 
business of energy for tomorrow.” 
Gulf people: 
energy for tomorrow. 
Gulf Oil Corporation 
“Someday we may use gas from coal 
the way we now use natural gas.” 
