Cumulative Production and Remaining Reserves, Permian Basin

HAEBERLE, F. R., Consulting Geologist, Dallas, TX

Cumulative production figures illustrate the importance of giant fields in the Permian basin. Over 55% of the Permian basin cumulative oil production comes from giant fields, and over 25% of the production comes from giant fields on the Central Basin platform. Over 45% of the cumulative production of giant fields has come from fields on the Central Basin platform. Production figures from the last 20 years show that over 70% of the Permian basin oil production during this period came from giant fields. Total estimated remaining reserves in the Permian basin emphasize the importance of giant fields overall and giant fields with reservoirs of Permian age in particular. Because no giant fields have been discovered in this area since 1957, additional production from giant fields will have o come from existing fields. This may be done either by increasing the amount of reserves recovered per well or by in-field drilling of old fields. Several fields exist where the density of a well may be low enough to permit additional drilling to be an effective but inexpensive method of increasing production. This will require detailed study of existing fields and reservoirs. Fields with many different operators may make acquiring drillable acreage difficult.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91011©1991 AAPG Southwest Section Meeting, Abilene, Texas, February 9-12, 1991 (2009)