USGS Report Expands Permian’s Wolfcamp, Bone Spring Potential Bounty

Anyone who follows the flow of U.S. oil and gas knows the Permian Basin’s Wolfcamp shale and Delaware Basin’s Bone Spring Formation are bountiful, but a new report from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) shows the enormity of their potential resources: an estimated 46.3 billion barrels of oil plus 281 trillion cubic feet of gas and 20 billion barrels of NGL.

That’s more than double the previous resource assessment for oil in the Wolfcamp.

Companies such as Occidental Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: OXY) and Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (NYSE: PXD) are among the many shale players that are already tapping the potential of the Wolfcamp and Bone Spring.

The USGS, which is part of the U.S. Department of Interior, deemed its review of resources in the Permian Basin province as the “largest continuous oil and gas resource ever assessed.” The assessment released Dec. 6 was more like Christmas for U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, he said in a statement.