Cliffside Gas Field (Texas)

Cliffside Gas Field is located in the Texas Panhandle bearing 9 miles (14 km) west of Texas Highway 87 and 15 miles (24 km) northwest of Amarillo, Texas. The Great Plains Panhandle area is located in Potter County, Texas within the vicinity of the unincorporated community Cliffside, Texas.[2]

Cliffside Gas Field
Helium Enrichment Unit in the Cliffside Gas Field outside Amarillo, Texas
Location of Cliffside Gas Field
LocationPotter County, Texas
Offshore/onshoreOnshore
Coordinates35°21′09″N 101°59′31″W
Field history
Discovery1910
Start of developmentMay 1925
Start of productionApril 1929
Production
Producing formations
[1]

The Potter County oil and gas reservoir was permitted for fossil fuel exploration in May 1925. The Panhandle basin was nationally recognized as a helium reserve with an estimated 100 billion cubic feet (2.8 billion cubic metres) of discovered natural gas at the Cliffside field.[3]

Amarillo Helium Plant
See also: Solar eclipse of August 18, 1868
U.S. helium processing plant in Amarillo, Texas

In April 1929, the United States government purchased 50,000 acres (20,000 ha) for a helium extraction plant located in west Amarillo within the unincorporated community of Soncy, Texas.[3][4][5]

By August 1929, the Texas Panhandle helium plant received notable commendations from national news sources regarding the plants estimated helium gas production yields.[6]

The Amarillo plant operated from 1929 to 1943 producing helium meeting the global demand for the monatomic gas. In 1968, the helium industry celebrated a centennial claiming Potter County, Texas as the "Helium Capital of the World."[7][8]

First Helium Reservoir in North Texas

The Petrolia Oil Field was located 18 miles (29 km) northeast of Wichita Falls, Texas. The oil and gas reservoir was the primary helium source for the United States during the 1910s and at the commencement of World War I. By 1921, the North Texas natural gas field was estimated as near gas depletion exceeding the Petrolia helium reserves-to-production ratio yields.[3]

See also
Air separationNational Helium Reserve
Hampson–Linde cycleNatural-gas processing
Helium Act of 1925Non-rigid airship
Hugoton Gas FieldRigid airship
List of airship accidentsSemi-rigid airship

References
  1. "Explore Texas Geology". United States Geological Survey. U.S. Department of the Interior.
  2. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Cliffside Gas Field Camp
  3. Smith, Julia Cauble. "Panhandle Field". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association.
  4. Olien, Diana; Olien, Roger (2002). Oil in Texas, The Gusher Age, 1895-1945. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press. p. 145. ISBN 978-0292778863. OCLC 46969843.
  5. Smith, Richard (1965). The Airships Akron & Macon, The Flying Aircraft Carriers of the United States Navy. Anapolis: Naval Institute Press. p. 15. ISBN 0870210653.
  6. Anonymous (August 14, 1929). "HELIUM OUTPUT RISES IN ARMY'S TEXAS PLANT; 648,850 Cubic Feet Produced in July--Steady Manufacture at Lowered Cost Under Way". The New York Times. p. R24.
  7. "Amarillo Helium Plant - Potter County ~ Marker Number: 144". Texas Historic Sites Atlas. Texas Historical Commission. 1965.
  8. Kleiner, Diana J. "Helium Production". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association.

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