The History and Geology of the Woodford Play, Arkoma Basin, Oklahoma

West Kubik1

¹Newfield Exploration

The Woodford play in the Arkoma Basin, Oklahoma, is an unconventional shale play covering a large portion of 4 counties in southeastern Oklahoma. The play began with an early phase of vertical drilling (2003), and the majority of these initial tests were commingled with shallower reservoirs. The first Woodford horizontal was drilled in late 2004, and an additional 11 wells in 2005. The success of these early horizontal wells spurred a significant increase in activity in 2006, with 138 horizontal wells spud that year. Activity continued to increase steadily, with 351 wells spud in 2008 and nearly 50 rigs running late that year. Over 800 horizontal wells have been drilled as of March 2009.

The Woodford Formation in the Arkoma basin is thickest along the southwestern terminus of the basin. Within the area of active drilling, the Woodford varies from 50' in the northeast, to 300' in the southwest. The majority of drilling activity is concentrated in the area of 100-200' of Woodford. The Woodford rests on the Sylvan Shale or Hunton Limestone. The Woodford is disconformably overlain by the Caney Formation. In the area of horizontal development, the Woodford can be highly faulted, with throws ranging from a few feet to thousands of feet. Stratigraphically, the Woodford can be divided into distinct zones which can be mapped across the entire area of horizontal development. Current Woodford development is focused on the dry gas region, although significant testing has been conducted in the lower maturity, mixed phase region.

AAPG Search and Discover Article #90097 © 2009 Tulsa Geological Society, Tulsa, Oklahoma

 

 

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