Abstract

Today we are rapidly approaching a century of exploration, discovery and production in the Permian Basin. As new plays and technologies drive the basin forward, it behooves us to take a look back at the beginnings. The history of exploration and discovery in the Permian Basin, as seen through the eyes of Gulf Oil, is a microcosm of the development of the basin as a whole. The early 20^th century was a time of exciting discoveries culminating in the mid 1920’s with rapid acquisition of large land positions by the major oil companies as word of these discoveries drew them to “set up shop” in the basin. The “Kip Harper” map, which hung in the Petroleum Museum for decades, is an example of the kind of big picture thinking geologists needed to be successful in pursuing development of the basin. Using regional geology, shallow subsurface information and surface structures Harper created a map that identified the Central Basin Platform and lead to Gulf Oil’s acquisition of over 300,000 acres in the heart of the basin.

The heady discoveries of the 1920’s were followed during the early 1930’s with slow development as oil prices plummeted following the stock market crash in 1929. The mid 1930’s was a time of multiple major field discoveries driven almost solely by the need to hold expiring leases. By 1940, most of the major oil fields in the basin had been discovered and were under development on 40 acre spacing. By the mid 1950’s primary production of the major field was complete and the Age of Waterflooding had begun.

Early exploration tools available to geologists, success rates, land issues/vacancy strips, odd well spacing, and the distribution of field size will be discussed. As will a comparison of Original Oil in Place Estimates from the 1950’s and today.