The Red Fork shoestring sand of northeastern Oklahoma was deposited, like similar sand bodies, along the margin of the Cherokee (early Pennsylvanian) sea. This sand is differentiated from contemporaneous flanking deposits by its relatively higher degree of sorting which has made it permeable whereas the flanking deposits are unsorted and impermeable. Thus the Red Fork shoestring sand forms a stratigraphic trap.

Certain small areas near the shoestring sand body produce oil from a sand stratigraphically similar to the Red Fork. One of these, a sheet sand, locally termed "basin Red Fork," is believed to have been formed in a shallow part of the Cherokee sea, possibly near the mouth of an ancient river.

Some of the dry holes which have been drilled seeking oil in the shoestring sand were predictable from the nature of the deposits disclosed in near-by projects. Moreover, some other failures could have been avoided if knowledge of structure had been used, since parts of the Red Fork shoestring contain water.

Water-drive of the oil in the shoestring does not appear. Furthermore, in view of the enclosed, insulated nature of the reservoir, it is probable that water-drive does not exist in this trap.

Costs of drilling for this high-gravity oil are moderate.

Future exploration for Red Fork shoestring production will be based on understanding of the nature of the Cherokee sea margin and on study of the subsurface structure. Since the Red Fork strand line represents only one short interim in Cherokee time, similar undiscovered trends may also have been formed.