PERMIAN BASIN/EASTERN SHELF
The Permian Basin of West Texas and Southeast New Mexico is the largest onshore oil producing region in the United States. It is a mature basin with legacy oil fields, multiple pay zones, proven reserves, relatively low cost drilling and access to transportation and markets.
The Permian Basin is one of the most prolific and longest-producing oil basins in the United States. It accounts for approximately 18% of U.S. crude oil production and 23% of the nation’s oil reserves. Since it first started producing in 1921, Permian Basin oil production peaked at 2,085 Mbopd in 1973, and gradually fell to 850 Mbopd by 2007 before trending up again in the last few years to reach 892 Mbopd in 2010.
The Permian Basin spans an area of approximately 260 miles wide and 300 miles long. It is divided into Eastern and Western halves by the North-South trending Central Basin Platform. Major subdivisions and boundaries are identified as the Delaware Basin, Northwestern Shelf, Central Basin Platform, Midland Basin, and Eastern Shelf. The two sub-basins are asymmetrical in cross-section harboring thicker Permian sediments and more structurally deformed lower Paleozoic sediments near the edges of the Central Basin Platform.
The Cline Shale lies more than 9,000 feet underground and many in the energy business expect it to bring the next oil and gas boom to West Texas.
But how big of a boom?
The entire formation of the Cline Shale spans nearly 10,000 square miles and could have up to 3.6 million barrels of obtainable oil per square mile.
Above, a rig drilling for oil in the Bone Springs Formation of New Mexico. One of several horizontal oil plays that includes the newly discovered Leonard Shale.