Extensive stratigraphic accumulations of oil and gas along the northern shelf of the Anadarko basin have been the visions of petroleum geologists for more than two decades; however, only recently have these visions become a reality. Discoveries of important oil and gas reserves in the Laverne, Southeast Stockholm, Woodward, and the "Cherokee trend" fields have focussed the attention of all exploration men on the stratigraphic trap possibilities of the northern shelf area.

Early exploration along the shelf consisted of surface mapping, core drilling, and geophysical surveying. Test wells, drilled without the aid of gas detectors and modern methods of surveying the bore hole, penetrated many gas reservoirs which were unrecognized and therefore not evaluated.

Many stratigraphic trap possibilities in most of the Paleozoic sediments ranging in age from Silurian-Devonian into early Permian can now be recognized through the information obtained from the numerous deep tests which have been drilled along the shelf area and in the basin proper. With the rapid advancement made by research in recent years, the geologist now has more sensitive tools with which to discover and evaluate reservoirs of oil and gas in wildcat tests.

Convergence due to truncation and onlap, and interruption in deposition of sands and "reef-type" limestones, provide most of the stratigraphic traps of the northern shelf area. A detailed study of multiple traps in the Laverne district has been made in order to study their nature. Here, one well may have as many as four gas reservoirs.

Major reserves of oil and gas are present along the northern shelf of the Anadarko basin, and undoubtedly will be found by those who are adept in delineating stratigraphic traps.