Hugoton Natural Gas Area

'''Hugoton Natural Gas Area''' is a combination of large [[natural gas field]]s in the [[United States|U.S. state]] of [[Kansas]], the largest of which is the Hugoton Field. Its name is derived from the town of [[Hugoton, Kansas]], near which the Hugoton Field was first discovered. ==History== Natural gas in the Hugoton area was first discovered in 1922 in [[Seward County, Kansas|Seward County]], three miles west of [[Liberal, Kansas|Liberal]]. Because this well did not produce [[petroleum|oil]], it was considered to have little value and remained unused for several years. In 1927, gas was discovered at the Independent Oil and Gas Company's Crawford No. 1, about 2,600 feet (790 meters) below the surface southwest of [[Hugoton, Kansas]], in [[Stevens County, Kansas|Stevens County]]. This is now considered the center of the Hugoton Natural Gas Area. By the end of 1928, five wells had been drilled in the field and the first pipeline was transporting gas to local markets. In 1929, Argus Pipe Line Company started construction of a pipeline to furnish gas to [[Dodge City, Kansas]]. Construction of major pipelines in the 1930s encouraged further drilling in the area. Today, approximately 11,000 wells produce gas and oil in the Kansas portion of the Hugoton area, and thousands of miles of pipeline carry Hugoton gas to many parts of the U.S. Approximately 7,800 wells produce gas from the Chase Group in the Hugoton Field. In 2007, the Hugoton gas area produced 358 billion cubic feet of gas, making it the 5th largest source of natural gas in the United States. ==Helium== The natural gas in the Hugoton field of Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas contains unusually high concentrations of helium, from 0.3% to 1.9%. Because of the large size of the field, it contains the largest reserves of [[helium]] in the United States. Helium is separated out as a byproduct from natural gas from the Hugoton field, as well as the Panhandle field in Texas, the Greenwood field in Kansas, and the Keyes field in Oklahoma. Much of the recovered helium is piped to the [[National Helium Reserve]] in [[Amarillo, Texas]], where it is stored underground in geologic formations for future use. ==External links== *[http://www.kgs.ku.edu/PRS/publication/2003/ofr2003-29/P1-03.html History of the Hugoton Natural Gas Area] *[http://www.kgs.ku.edu/HAMP/background.html Hugoton Asset Management Project] *[http://www.kgs.ku.edu/Publications/pic5/pic5_1.html Kansas Geological Survey Public Information Circular about Hugoton Natural Gas Area] {{coord missing|Kansas}}