Abstract

The Tri-State area of southeastern Kansas, southwestern Missouri, and northeastern Oklahoma has often been cited as having considerable heavy-oil potential. The Oklahoma Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy, conducted an 18-hole drilling and coring program to evaluate heavy-oil resources in northeastern Oklahoma. Lower Desmoinesian sandstones appear to be discontinuous and quite variable in reservoir quality in northeastern Craig and northwestern Ottawa Counties. Lack of heavy-oil impregnation in areas where good quality reservoirs do exist further minimizes the possibility that extensive heavy-oil deposits occur in the study area.

Previous estimates of heavy-oil resources in the Tri-State area have ranged from 30 million to a few billion barrels of oil-in-place. The results of the present study suggest that the Oklahoma portion of the Tri-State area may not contain as much heavy-oil as had been previously estimated.