66 BULLETIN 102, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 
2. Number of dry holes that have been drilled. 
3. Probable rock pressure decline. 
4. New drilling necessary to maintain production. 
5. Total investment necessary in “conservation project” to save 
the gas. 
6. Total investment in leases, wells, compressing stations, and 
transmission lines necessary to connect the gas with a market. 
7. Operating cost of all the preceding factors. 
8. In no case would it be prudent business or good judgment to 
attempt to conserve a waste of gas or develop a new supply that 
would not take care of the fixed charges on the investment and the 
operating cost during the life of the gas that is saved or developed 
on the basis of the volume of gas that can be obtained from such an 
enterprise and manufactured through the ultimate consumer’s meter 
at the present market prices. An adequate price is therefore the 
crux of the natural gas conservation question. Unless it is made 
worth saving by the public it will not be good business judgment to 
attempt to save it. 
