Abstract

There have been more than 200 oil and gas exploration wells drilled in the Utah portion of the Great Basin. The calculated ratio for drilling density in the basin is one well per 170 sq mi, or one well per five townships. Drilling activity has occurred during the past 100 years, starting with the initial commercial discovery of the Farmington gas field in 1891. In spite of many shows of oil, no commercial development has yet occurred. The Amoco off-shore drilling venture in the Great Salt Lake from 1978 to 1981 encountered oil in nine of the fifteen wells drilled, but commercial development was at least partially discouraged by the high sulfur content and low API gravity of the oil.

The Great Basin is geologically complex and, as such, suggests many alternatives for exploration strategies. Source beds occur throughout the geologic column from Paleozoic through Cenozoic rocks. Maturation temperatures may have been achieved through sediment loading, thrust loading, or geothermal heating. Oil and gas traps may exist through thrust or fold control, or in stratigraphic traps at the base of the Cenozoic sediments and in Cenozoic sand lenses.

The Great Basin of Utah is a premier area for petroleum exploration and within this province is a major field waiting to be discovered.