Cline Shale

As of 2013 the Cline Shale, also referred to as the "Wolfcamp/Cline Shale", the "Lower Wolfcamp Shale,",[1] or the "Spraberry-Wolfcamp shale",[2][lower-alpha 1] or even the "Wolfberry",[4] is a promising Pennsylvanian oil play east of Midland, Texas which underlies 10 counties: Fisher, Nolan, Sterling, Coke, Glasscock, Tom Green, Howard, Mitchell, Borden and Scurry County, Texas.[1] Exploitation is projected to rely on hydraulic fracturing.[5]

an organic rich shale, with Total Organic Content (TOC) of 1-8%, with silt and sand beds mixed in. It lies in a broad shelf, with minimal relief and has nice light oil of 38-42 gravity with excellent porosity of 6-12% in thickness varying 200 to 550 feet thick.[1]

The total recovery was estimated to 30 billion barrels in 2012,[6][7] and United States Geological Survey estimated the technically recoverable reserve to 20 billion barrels in 2016, the largest USGS estimate ever[8] and nearly three times larger than that of the 2013 USGS Bakken-Three Forks resource assessment in North Dakota.[9] The field also seems to contain 16 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.[9] This is the first assessment of continuous resources in the Wolfcamp shale in the Midland Basin portion of the Permian.[9] During the 1980s, vertical wells produced oil in the Wolfcamp area.[10] However, since 2000 in North America, horizontal drilling or porpoising along with hydraulic fracturing have grown tremendously and are tapping the continuous oil reserve.[10] In Odessa, Chris Schenk, a Denver-based research geologist and assessment team member, told KWES, "This oil has been known there for a long time -- our task is to estimate what we think the volume of recoverable oil is."[10][11] According to Morris Burns, a local oil expert and former president of the Permian Basin Petroleum Association, 50% to 60% is recoverable beginning at a price range of $60 to $65 per barrell.[11] This area is the largest continuous oil discovery in the United States and encompasses the cities of both Lubbock and Midland which are 118 miles apart.[8][9][12][lower-alpha 2]

The Cline Shale is more generally referred to as the Lower Wolfcamp Shale. The Cline is a small part of the greater Wolfcamp Shale Formation.[3][14][15][lower-alpha 3]

Notes

  1. ↑ Pioneer Natural Resources is the largest acreage holder in Spraberry-Wolfcamp.[3]
  2. ↑ Continuous oil accumulation - a "continuous” or "unconventional" oil accumulation means that the oil resource is dispersed throughout a geologic formation rather than existing as discrete, localized occurrences, such as those in conventional accumulations. Unconventional resources often require special technical drilling and recovery methods.[13]
  3. ↑ Broad Oak Energy is credited with the discovery of the play by its drilling of the first Wolfcamp Shale well, the Sugg A159 AH well, in July 2009.[14][15] Since July 2011, Broad Oak Energy is owned by Laredo Petroleum.[16]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "The Cline Shale: A Brief Overview". TheClineShale.Com. Retrieved April 28, 2013.
  2. ↑ Jim Fuquay (April 3, 2013). "Energy executive predicts U.S. will export crude oil". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Retrieved April 28, 2013.
  3. 1 2 "Wolfcamp shale graduates to 'world class' play". 1 (3). First annual Unconventional Resources Technology Conference (URTeC) in Denver, Colorado: Oil & Gas Journal (OGJ) (published October 1, 2013). August 12, 2013. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  4. ↑ Louse S. Durham (May 2012). "Wolfcamp + Spraberry Commingled Wolfberry a Clever Mix". AAPG Explorer. Retrieved April 29, 2013.
  5. ↑ Kate Galbraith (April 27, 2013). "Ready (or Not?) for a Great Coming Shale Boom". The New York Times. Retrieved April 28, 2013.
  6. ↑ Hillier, Jennifer (24 February 2013). "West Texas shale could dwarf Eagle Ford". Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  7. ↑ McEwen, Mella (12 December 2012). "Spotlight intensifies on emerging Cline Shale". MyWestTexas. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  8. 1 2 Visser, Steve; Ansari, Azadeh (November 18, 2016). "Mammoth Texas oil discovery biggest ever in USA". KITV. CNN. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  9. 1 2 3 4 "USGS Estimates 20 Billion Barrels of Oil in Texas' Wolfcamp Shale Formation". USGS. November 15, 2016. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
  10. 1 2 3 Warren, David (November 16, 2016). "Vast shale oil field in Texas could yield 20 billion barrels". KWES. Associated Press (AP). Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  11. 1 2 Trahan, Chelsey (November 16, 2016). "Billions of gallons of oil estimated in Permian Basin, expert speaks". KWES. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  12. ↑ "Midland Basin Map". USGS. November 15, 2016. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  13. ↑ "Definition of continuous oil accumulation". USGS. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  14. 1 2 "David Braddock" (pdf). Broad Oak Energy. January 21, 2013. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  15. 1 2 "Broad Oak Energy". Broad Oak Energy. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  16. ↑ Womble, Mark (CFO) (July 6, 2011). "Laredo Petroleum Completes Broad Oak Energy Acquisition" (pdf). Tulsa, Oklahoma: Laredo Petroleum. Retrieved November 18, 2016.

External links and further reading

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