U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

USGS Fact Sheet FS-085-03

August 2003 Printed on recycled paper

National Assessment of Oil and Gas Fact Sheet

2002 Assessment of Undiscovered Oil and Gas Resources: 

Cretaceous Travis Peak and Hosston Formations,

Jurassic Smackover Interior Salt Basins Total Petroleum 

System, Louisiana-Mississippi Salt Basins Province,

Northern Gulf Coast Region

Introduction

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) recently completed an assessment of the 

undiscovered oil and gas potential of the Lower Cretaceous Travis Peak and Hosston 

Formations in the East Texas Basin and Louisiana-Mississippi Salt Basins Provinces of 

the northern Gulf Coast region (fi g. 1) as part of a national oil and gas assessment effort. 

The assessment of the petroleum potential of the Travis Peak and Hosston Formations 

was based on the general geologic elements used to defi ne a total petroleum system 

(TPS), which includes hydrocarbon source rocks (source-rock maturation, and hydrocarbon generation and migration), reservoir rocks (sequence stratigraphy and petrophysical properties), and hydrocarbon traps (trap formation and timing). Using this geologic 

framework, the USGS defi ned three assessment units (AU)—Travis Peak–Hosston Gas 

and Oil AU, Travis Peak–Hosston Updip Oil AU, and Travis Peak–Hosston Hypothetical 

Updip Oil AU—that combine to form a single TPS, the Jurassic Smackover Interior Salt 

Basins TPS. A fourth AU, Hosston Hypothetical Slope-Basin Gas, was not quantitatively 

assessed because of a lack of geological data.

Using a geologybased assessment 

methodology, the U.S. 

Geological Survey estimated means of 1,136 

billion cubic feet of 

undiscovered natural 

gas, 29 million barrels of 

undiscovered oil, and 22 

million barrels of natural 

gas liquids in the Travis 

Peak and Hosston Formations in the East Texas 

Basin and LouisianaMississippi Salt Basins 

Provinces of the northern 

Gulf Coast region. These 

hydrocarbon volumes 

represent a total for 

three defined assessment units that combine 

to form a single total 

petroleum system within 

the provinces.

Figure 1. Map of Louisiana-Mississippi Salt 

Basins Province 5049 and East Texas Basin 

Province 5048 of the northern Gulf Coast region 

showing geographic distribution of the Travis 

Peak and Hosston Formations assessment units 

in the Jurassic Smackover Interior Salt Basins 

Total Petroleum System.

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Oil 0.5 1.25 3.77 9.09 4.28 9.20 29.24 76.28 34.26 0.21 0.72 1.97 0.86

Gas 3.0 395.49 1,007.23 1,854.68 1,051.08 6.55 17.60 35.86 18.93

Total 1.00 1.25 3.77 9.09 4.28 404.69 1,036.47 1,930.96 1,085.35 6.76 18.32 37.83 19.78

Oil 0.5 6.18 19.74 39.49 20.97 5.76 19.24 42.23 21.01 0.21 0.75 1.78 0.84

Gas 3.0 7.74 22.40 55.02 25.71 0.21 0.66 1.73 0.77

Total 1.00 6.18 19.74 39.49 20.97 13.50 41.64 97.25 46.72 0.42 1.40 3.51 1.61

Oil 0.5 0.00 3.13 9.72 3.66 0.00 3.01 10.14 3.66 0.00 0.12 0.42 0.15

Gas 3.0 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

Total 0.76 0.00 3.13 9.72 3.66 0.00 3.01 10.14 3.66 0.00 0.12 0.42 0.15

Oil 0.5 7.44 26.63 58.29 28.92 14.96 51.50 128.65 58.93 0.43 1.58 4.17 1.85

Gas 3.0 403.24 1,029.63 1,909.70 1,076.79 6.75 18.25 37.58 19.70

Total 1.00 7.44 26.63 58.29 28.92 418.19 1,081.13 2,038.35 1,135.72 7.18 19.83 41.76 21.54

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Total conventional undiscovered resources in Travis PeakHosston reservoirs of the Jurassic Smackover Interior 

Salt Basins Total Petroleum System

Travis PeakHosston Hypothetical Updip Oil Assessment Unit

0.76

Travis PeakHosston Gas and Oil Assessment Unit

1.00

Not quantitatively assessed

Travis PeakHosston Updip Oil Assessment Unit

1.00

Hosston Hypothetical Slope-Basin Gas Assessment Unit

1.00

Table 1. Assessment results summary—Travis Peak–Hosston Assessment Units within the Jurassic Smackover Interior Salt Basins Total Petroleum System, 504902.

[MMBO, million barrels of oil; BCFG, billion cubic feet of gas; MMBNGL, million barrels of natural gas liquids; MAS, minimum accumulation size assessed (MMBO 

or BCFG); Prob, probability (including both geologic and accessibility probabilities) of at least one accumulation equal to or greater than the MAS or, for continuoustype resources, at least one additional cell of equal to or greater than the minimum estimated ultimate recovery. Results shown are fully risked estimates. For gas 

accumulations, all liquids are included as NGL (natural gas liquids). F95 represents a 95-percent chance of at least the amount tabulated. Other fractiles are defined 

similarly. Fractiles are additive under the assumption of perfect positive correlation. Shading indicates not applicable]

Resource Summary

The USGS assessed undiscovered conventional oil and gas for 

each of the AUs, resulting in total estimated means of 1,135.72 billion cubic feet of nonassociated gas and associated gas in oil fields, 

28.92 million barrels of oil, and 21.54 million barrels of natural 

gas liquids in the Jurassic Smackover Interior Salt Basins TPS of 

these two provinces (table 1). All of the undiscovered resources are 

conventional. The Travis Peak–Hosston Gas and Oil AU contains 

1,085.35 billion cubic feet of gas, representing about 95 percent of 

the total mean undiscovered gas resource (1,135.72 billion cubic 

feet) estimated for the Travis Peak and Hosston Formations in these 

two provinces. 

For Further Information

Supporting geologic studies of total petroleum systems and 

assessment units and reports on the methodology used in the Travis 

Peak–Hosston assessment in the East Texas Basin and LouisianaMississippi Salt Basins Provinces of the northern Gulf Coast region 

are available at the USGS Central Energy Team Web site: 

http://energy.cr.usgs.gov/oilgas/noga/

Travis Peak–Hosston Assessment Team

T.S. Dyman (Task Leader: dyman@usgs.gov), S.M. Condon, R.R. 

Charpentier, T.A. Cook, R.A. Crovelli, T.R. Klett, M.D. Lewan, R.M. 

Pollastro, C.J. Schenk, and J.W. Schmoker.