• Friday, Siipfernber 27, 1946 THE JEWISH NEWS Avaitibility of Gas Creates New Doubts Phillips to deliver any minimum quan- tity of gas. 4. Already a number of wells drilled in the 436,000 acres dedicated to the proposed pipe line have been plugged and abandoned as worthless. If fur- ther exploration proves that gas can not be obtained in quantities sufficient to repay the cost of drilling wells— at about $30,000 each—the contract specifies that Phillips need not "drill any wells which would not be drilled by a reasonably prudent operator." 5. If Phillips is unable to develop enough gas to meet the requirements of the proposed pipe line, the spon- sors may seek to buy gas elsewhere. but only after Phillips has failed to meet the requirements for 90 con- secutive days. gan-Wisconsin pipe line, sponsor- ed by Michigan Consolidated, these facts stood out:- 1. The proposed- Michigan-Wisconsin line is entirely dependent for supply Fresh doubt as to the ability of on 436,000 acres in Texas and Okla- homa to be developed by Phillips Michigan Consolidated Gas Com- Petroleum Company. pany to obtain enough Texas 2. Much of the acreage in the con- natural gas to supply the Detroit tract between Phillips and the Mich- Pipe Line Company. is market has been raised by recent igan-Wisconsin marginal land on the edge of the rich testimony before the Federal producing land where Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line Company obtains its Power Commission. gas. At the conclusion of searching 3. The contract with Phillips Petro- does not specify the number of examination into gas reserves leum wells Phillips must drill nor does it available for the proposed Michi- contain any guarantee compelling Page Twen+y-tfiree at the Federal Power Commission drill wells that a reasonably pru- hearing on the application of dent operator would consider non-profitable. His testimony also Michigan Consolidated Gas Com- showed that about 50 wells of pany -to build the new pipe line. more than 500 scheduled for drill- For Detroit residents, this sub- ing, were located in acreage that stitute line would be used in Ralph Davis, production expert place of the system of Panhandle for the proposed pipe line, de- Eastern, which has been trans- porting natural gas to the city for ten years. Testimony of P. McDonald Bid- dison, consulting engineer of Phillips Petroleum, brought out These points were developed that Phillips was not required to clared was unproductive. Also before the FPC is a re- quest by Panhandle Eastern for authority to expand its facilities so as to carry more gas to. Detroit and other cities. The hearings are expected to last into October. I AGREED, MR. DETROIT • • • and there are quite a few thousand other Detroiter who echo your sentiments. But, as you know, your city faces the prospect of a long, long gas shortage. The 'reason? Well, in the words of James H. Lee, Assistant Corporation Counsel of Detroit: "Michigan Consoli- dated (your local gas distributor) wants a pip* line and wants to create a shortage so the Federal Power Commission will give it permission to go ahead and build it." Mr. Lee refers to the plans of the interests controlling Michigan Consolidated to spend over $84,000,000 (mostly your money) on a line from Texas that would duplicate the service Panhandle Eastern has given Detroit for the past ten years. In order to justify this expensive promotion, Michigan Consoli- dated interests must demonstrate, one way or another, that the Panhandle Eastern system . . . (two giant pipe lines with a total capacity of approximately 400 million cubic feet a day!) cannot bring sufficient gas to Detroit. And so, by stubbornly refusing to negotiate with Panhandle Eastern fat an additional supply and by attempting to block Panharbdle Eastern's expansion program, these interests are respon- sible for a gas shortage ... one that may last for several years at least. Is this in the public interest . . . in your interest? Hardly, but consider what Michigan Consolidated is gambling for ... a com- plete monopoly upon the gas supply of your city, in addition CO the monopoly it already has on gas distribution. Of course, plans like those of Michigan Consolidated take time months and months of hearings before public authorities ... then, if approved, more months and even years before materials can be delivered and construction begun. Panhandle Eastern is past the planning stage. Already con- struction crews are hard at work up and down our huge system, carrying out the first part of a big post-war expansion program that proposes to add a third giant pipe line to the two now serving Detroit. The question of whether or not your gas-hungry city will benefit from Panhandle Eastern's new construction ... gain relief from the present shortage ... rests largely in the hands of Detroit's citizens. Unless the pressure of public opinion forces Michigan Consolidated interests to abandon their ambitious plans for a duplicate pipe line—costly and unnecessary—your gas shortage will continue for years. How do you feel about it? 11110110'S 6REATEST RESERVES fia ■ ILDI/1211 SWEI.01111114111 Panhandle Eastern produces and trans- ports natural gas from the Southwest to the ..‘gates" of Detroit, *here It is sold at wholesale to the local gas utility for distribution.