There were sixteen new discoveries made in the Rocky Mountain region during 1947. Of these sixteen discoveries, six were based on surface geology, seven on geophysics, and three on a combination of geophysics and geology.

The commercial production of oil from the Casper formation (Pennsylvanian) at Herrick Dome in the Laramie Basin, Wyoming, opened another producing zone in this area that bad heretofore been considered doubtful. Production of oil from the Kibbey sand (upper Mississippian) at Ragged Point, Montana, can be classed as a new producing zone in that state. The presence of commercial oil in the Madison limestone (Mississippian) in the Lost Soldier field of Wyoming opened a hitherto unknown reserve in an old established field.

Twenty-five successful outpost wells were drilled during the year and five successful deep-pool tests were completed. New reserves to the extent of 160 million barrels of oil were added to the present proved reserves of the Rocky Mountain region.

The successful development of shallow sand traps along the northeast rim of the Powder River Basin in Wyoming indicates similar possibilities in other areas of the Rocky Mountain region.

Exploration activity was the highest on record, with a total of eighty seismograph parties and forty-six gravity parties operating in the region at one time. The most intense geophysical work and the largest number of crews was concentrated in the basin areas of Wyoming. Also significant was the acceptance by the industry of photogeology as an economic exploration method. More than 110,000 square miles of the region were photogeologized with the discovery of many unmapped structures and areas of potential structural significance.