Exploration and men’s minds

On February 22, 2012 — No comments

Geologists mulling the world’s great discoveries of 2011 might be reminded of basins they have explored without making a big find. Perhaps the Great Basin is one of those places.

Shell stunned the industry in 1954 with the discovery of Eagle Springs field in Railroad Valley, Nye County, Nev. Then 145 exploratory wells later came Trap Spring field, and in 1983 Northwest Exploration Co. discovered Grant Canyon field, which has produced 21.25 million bbl of oil from 4,400 ft.

Then there was another hiatus until Wolverine Gas & Oil Co. announced the discovery of Covenant field in Utah in May 2004.

With natural gas out of favor because of the price and acreage positions staked out in the popular US unconventional plays, operators may choose to pursue some of the world’s lesser known oily geological objectives.

Wolverine’s Covenant and Providence discoveries, at the transition between the Great Basin and Colorado Plateau, drew Occidental Petroleum Corp. to take a large position on the thrust belt in 2007.

Oxy USA’s discovery in Kern County, Calif., is more public than the Utah play, but these days Oxy is said to be participating in several exploratory wells along the thrust belt.

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