22 BULLETIN 102, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 
For another operating company representing nearly 40 per cent of 
the State’s production we have the following : 
1. Number of acres natural gas land owned to a domestic consumer 
decreased from 3 acres in 1910 to 2 acres in 1917. 
2. The average open flow capacity of new wells drilled declined 
from 1,200 M 1 in 1913 to 700 M in 1917. 
3. The average annual production to a well declined from 3,600 
M in 1910 to 2,200 M in 1917. 
PIG. 5. DECLINE IN WEST VIRGINIA NATURAL GAS RESOURCES, BASED ON 
DATA COMPILED BY THE UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 
4. The number of domestic consumers that could be served by each 
producing well declined from 250 in 1910 to 170 in 1917. 
5. Simultaneously with the above decline, the average annual gas 
service demands to the domestic consumer increased from 110 M 
1 The letter “M” represents “1,000 cubic feet,” the unit of gas measurement. 
