The agency said that the Wolfcamp shale also contains 16 trillion cubic feet of associated natural gas, and 1.6 billion barrels of natural gas liquids.
Till date, it is the largest estimated continuous oil accumulation that USGS has assessed in the US.
The Wolfcamp shale assessment is nearly three times larger than that of Bakken-Three Forks resources assessed in 2013.
USGS Energy Resources Program coordinator Walter Guidroz said: “The fact that this is the largest assessment of continuous oil we have ever done just goes to show that, even in areas that have produced billions of barrels of oil, there is still the potential to find billions more.
“Changes in technology and industry practices can have significant effects on what resources are technically recoverable, and that’s why we continue to perform resource assessments throughout the US and the world.”
Also, the current findings are the first assessment of continuous resources conducted by USGS in the Wolfcamp shale in the Midland Basin portion of the Permian.
Oil and gas companies have been drilled and completed more than 3,000 horizontal wells in the Midland Basin Wolfcamp section.
In the latest assessment, USGS did not include the Wolfcamp shale that is present in the Delaware Basin portion of the Permian Basin province.
USGS said: “The Permian Basin province includes a series of basins and other geologic formations in West Texas and southern New Mexico. It is one of the most productive areas for oil and gas in the entire US.”
Image: Permian Basin. Photo courtesy of National Energy Technology Laboratory/Wikipedia.
