### Assessment of continuous oil resources in the Wolfcamp shale of the Midland Basin, Permian Basin Province, Texas, 2016

By: Stephanie B. Gaswirth**

                            https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20171013

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#### Abstract

First posted March 6, 2017

**For additional information, contact:**
Center Director, USGS Central Energy Resources Science CenterBox 25046, Mail Stop 939Denver, CO 80225

http://energy.usgs.gov/

The U.S. Geological Survey completed a geology-based assessment of undiscovered, technically recoverable continuous petroleum resources in the Wolfcamp shale in the Midland Basin part of the Permian Basin Province of west Texas. This is the first U.S. Geological Survey evaluation of continuous resources in the Wolfcamp shale in the Midland Basin. Since the 1980s, the Wolfcamp shale in the Midland Basin has been part of the “Wolfberry” play. This play has traditionally been developed using vertical wells that are completed and stimulated in multiple productive stratigraphic intervals that include the Wolfcamp shale and overlying Spraberry Formation. Since the shift to horizontal wells targeting the organic-rich shale of the Wolfcamp, more than 3,000 horizontal wells have been drilled and completed in the Midland Basin Wolfcamp section. The U.S. Geological Survey assessed technically recoverable mean resources of 20 billion barrels of oil and 16 trillion cubic feet of associated gas in the Wolfcamp shale in the Midland Basin.

#### Suggested Citation

Gaswirth, S.B., 2017, Assessment of continuous oil resources in the Wolfcamp shale of the Midland Basin, Permian Basin Province, Texas, 2016: U.S. Geological Survey Open File-Report 2017–1013, 14 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20171013.

ISSN: 2331-1258 (online)

#### Study Area

#### Table of Contents

- Assessment of the Wolfcamp Shale
- Wolfcamp Production
- Wolfcamp by the Numbers
- Conventional versus Continuous Resources
- USGS Assessment Methodology For Continuous-Type Accumulations
- Stratigraphy and Assessment Units
- Wolfcamp Shale Assessment Units
- Wolfcamp Shale Mean Assessment Results Per Assessment Unit
- Midland Basin Wolfcamp Shale Assessment Summary
- Wolfcamp Shale of the Midland Basin: Largest Continuous Oil Accumulation Assessed by the USGS
- References

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