Print this pageAbstract: Heavy Oil in Western Missouri--Update 1975
Jack Wells
The energy crisis of the early 1970s and the resulting increased price for new and stripper oil have revived interest in the potential petroleum resource of heavy oil-tar sand deposits of Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma. Recent drilling in Missouri permits a review and update of the geology of these deposits.
In parts of western Missouri, southeastern Kansas, and northeastern Oklahoma, sandstones of the Middle Pennsylvanian Cherokee Group are impregnated with heavy oil. These deposits, commonly referred to as tar sands or asphaltic sandstones, are at the surface or near the surface in Missouri to depths in excess of 500 ft.
Estimates of the amount of oil in place in the Tri-State area range 
from
1 to 75 billion bbl. The Missouri Geological Survey currently estimates that 8 billion bbl of heavy oil in place may exist in the Missouri part of this area.
Current drilling by industry points out the need for geologic study in determining the nature and geometry of these oil-bearing sand bodies. A program undertaking a coordinated study of the surface and subsurface occurrences of heavy oil and tar sands by the Geological Surveys
of Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma has been funded partly. Initial work will be carried out in the outcrop area by the Missouri Geological Survey, Department of Natural Resources.
APG Search and Discovery Article #90974©1975 AAPG Mid-Continent Section Meeting, Wichita, Kansas