The progress during January, 1978 of the major government sponsored endeavors undertaken to increase gas production from the low permeability gas sands of the western United States is summarized. A core program meeting was held on January 25, 1978 at the CER Corporation office in Las Vegas, Nevada. The core tasks to be performed on the available core supply were enumerated and each participant at the meeting expressed the interest and capabilities of his organization for the execution of specific analyses. A log file and project file, which contain raw data and published reports from each Western Gas Sands Project contractor are being established. The USGS is continuing geological and geophysical studies in the four major western basins to characterize the resource base. Petrographic examination, cross section construction and other studies are continuing in the Uinta and Piceance Basins. El Paso Natural Gas Company has supplied the USGS with additional well data from Pinedale Unit, Wyoming wells, and discussions have been held with Jerry McCutchin Jr. of Dallas on a recent Shannon (Eagle) discovery in South Dakota. The National Laboratories, funded by DOE, are continuing their work in the area of research and development. The emphasis is on the development of new tools and instrumentation systems, rock mechanics, mathematical modeling and data analysis. Field Tests and demonstrations active in the Uinta and Piceance Basins are: Gas Producing Enterprises (GPE) Natural Buttes Wells No. 14, 18, 19, 20, 21, and 22; Mobil Research and Development, Well No. F-31-13G; and Rio Blanco Natural Gas Company, Well No. 498-4-1. Mitchell Energy Company's proposal to conduct an MHF test in the Cotton Valley limestone gas reservoir in Texas has been approved. Contract negotiations are expected to commence shortly.
