PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS. 67 
WASTE OF NATURAL GAS. 
The waste of natural gas in the western Pennsylvania and Ohio 
fields in the early days of production was enormous. From some 
wells it has been estimated as equivalent to hundreds of tons of coal 
per day. This was due largely to the enormous pressure developed 
at the outset in some of the big producers. Measures were soon 
taken to stop the waste. The gas from the McGuigan well, however, 
as already stated, flowed away for more than a year before a main 
was laid to Pittsburg. 
Aside from the waste due to uncontrollable pressure in the early 
wells, there has been a great deal of loss of gas owing to the fact that 
the producers and consumers were careless in its transportation and 
utilization. Much gas is still wasted through unplugged wells, from 
leaky joints, and from producing oil wells. Many farmers who own 
gas wells foolishly allow the gas to burn all day from pipes in front of 
their houses. In one case gas was observed burning at the top of a 
pipe in the center of a corn field. The writer has passed through vil- 
lages where the street lights were allowed to burn all day. I. C. 
White has estimated that in West Virginia one-fourth of the entire 
production is daily wasted without accomplishing any useful purpose. a 
Recently there has been a gradual awakening to the inexcusable 
waste, and it is hoped that before long all the gas produced will be 
utilized. 
VALUE OF GOOD WELL RECORDS. 
The advantage of keeping accurate and complete records of the 
wells is almost universally underestimated. In the great majority of 
cases only one or two coal beds and the principal oil and gas sands 
are noted by the drillers. These answer their purpose for recognizing 
the sands, but tell nothing of the character or distribution of the 
intervening formations, and thereby render it impossible to draw 
any geologic conclusions of value. 
A few drillers and contractors have kept records in which the 
thickness and depth of all beds from the surface to the bottom of the 
well have been noted. It is urged that more such records be kept. 
Especially is it important to note the positions and character of all 
coal, red shale, and limestone beds, as on these the geologist depends 
most of all for his correlations. Such data assist in the determination 
of geologic structure and frequently enable him to define the limits of 
a certain formation, and thus to give the geologic name corresponding 
to the driller's term for a certain sand. To meet the needs of drillers 
and other persons who wish to keep pace with the most modern 
methods of taking notes, the United States Geological Survey keeps 
in stock a large number of pocket record books, which may be 
a West Virginia Geoi. Survey, vol. 1 (a), Oil and gas, 1904, p. 30. 
