ABSTRACT

The Sterling Field is located in the northeastern corner of Comanche County, Oklahoma on the downfaulted (northeastern) side of the buried Wichita mountain front. The discovery well was drilled by Woods Petroleum in 1959. Development drilling continued through 1963, with all production coming from about a dozen zones in the Cisco and Hoxbar Groups. Although the productive formations were positioned on a large, faulted structure, most of the traps appear to be stratigraphic in nature. Activity resumed in the early 1980's with deeper zone discoveries in the Marchand, the Springer, and the Atoka -- the latter of which constitutes the deepest oil well completion in Oklahoma. Structure maps on post-Deese and pre-Hoxbar formations are markedly dissimilar, leading to the possible conclusion that some sort of decollement exists in the lowermost Hoxbar. Cumulative field production at the end of 1985 was 39 BCFG and 700,000 BO; ultimate production figures could be roughly half again that amount.