The Permian System was first described in outcrops near Perm, Russia in 1841 by Scottish geologist Sir Roderick Impey Murchison. Hence the name “Permian.”
The first Permian strata and fossils in North America were identified and described by James Hall in 1856.
In the 1850s, expeditions to the Guadalupe Mountains of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico discovered that the mountain range was composed of Permian age strata (Shumard, 1858), with regional dip of strata to the east. In Central Texas, Permian age strata were identified, with regional dip of strata to the west. Between the Guadalupe Mountains and Central Texas, it was realized that the area hosted a depositional basin of Permian age. However, the basin was covered by younger Late Permian, Triassic, Cretaceous, and Cenozoic strata. Initially the basin was called the “West Texas Permian Basin,” which was later shortened to “Permian Basin.” Now, the basin is referred to as the “Permian Super Basin,” due to its high productivity of hydrocarbons.
First Wells, Early Exploration
The first wells drilled in the West Texas Permian Basin were water wells on the Llano Estacado (Staked Plains) in search of artesian water in 1855-59. Water wells were drilled by Captain John Pope as part of the Railroad Survey Act. Water was needed along a proposed railroad route to supply steam locomotives. One well reached a depth of 1,301 feet. Water was found, but not artesian water.
In 1916 J. A. Udden, director of the Texas Bureau of Economic Geology, wrote a letter to the board of regents on the possibility of oil beneath university lands in West Texas.
Udden postulated the presence of a Marathon fold where petroleum might be trapped in the subsurface. The Marathon fold was postulated to extend from the Marathon Mountains northeast and then north northeast across the southern and eastern part of the Permian Basin.
Though found not to exist by later drilling, the proposed position of the Marathon fold influenced where the first two discoveries of commercial oil were made at Westbrook and Big Lake fields in 1920 and 1923, respectively.
Little was known about the West Texas Permian Basin. In 1926, the West Texas Geological Society was chartered, along with other geological societies throughout the area, where geologists could gather and compare notes trying to understand the lay of the land in the subsurface.
A few exploration wildcat wells were drilled to evaluate the area. Oil seeps and shallow non-commercial oil production captivated explorationists’ minds, with the prospect of discoveries of commercial quantities of oil.
The Big Three Early Field Discoveries
In June 1920, the first discovery of commercial oil in the Permian Basin was made by the Texas and Pacific W.H. Abrams No. 1, with the discovery of Westbrook field. W.H. Abrams was the landman that put the acreage play together to drill, not the lease holder.
The drilling site was chosen in an altogether informal manner. Three men went out to the general area, climbed a hill, and decided on the drill site.
Lower Permian Upper Clear Fork Formation strata served as the reservoir. The reservoir is composed of low porosity-permeability dolostone. In the first year Westbrook produced 50,000 barrels of oil.
Though not understood at the time of discovery, Westbrook field was located on the eastern shelf of the Permian Basin.
On May 28, 1923, the second discovery of commercial oil in the Permian Basin was made by Santa Rita No. 1, with the discovery of Big Lake field. Middle Permian Grayburg Formation strata serve as the reservoir and are composed of high porosity-permeability dolograinstone. In the first 18 months, Big Lake produced a million barrels of oil.
Though not understood at the time of discovery, Big Lake field was located on the Ozona Arch at the southern end of the Midland Basin.
Prior to drilling the well, investors in the well asked the company representative to climb to the top of the derrick and scatter rose petals over the rig saying: “I hereby christen thee Santa Rita.” To which the company representative said: “I faithfully carried out those instructions.” Santa Rita is the “patron saint of the impossible.”
The Santa Rita No. 1 discovery well was drilled on the west down-dip side of Big Lake field. A west-to-east railroad passes by the discovery well on its south side. When one stands on the railroad tracks and looks west, the tracks show a gentle dip to the west. When one turns and looks east, the railroad tracks are gently ascending as if going up-dip.
A later discovery, McCamey field, was initially identified as a prospect by noticing that steam locomotives were either gliding down-dip or huffing-and-puffing up-dip.
On April 9, 1924, the third discovery of commercial oil in the Permian Basin was made by the Flynn-Welch-Yates No. 3, with the discovery of Artesia field. The field is located east of Artesia, New Mexico. Hence the name Artesia.
Middle Permian Grayburg Formation strata serve as the reservoir. Productive Grayburg strata are composed of dolomitic sandstone containing excellent interparticle porosity and permeability, and not dolostone strata similar to Big Lake field.
Though not understood at the time of discovery, the field was located on the Northwest Shelf.
In 1924, Artesia produced 98,000 barrels of oil and in 1925 produced one million.
Exploration Potential
These three initial field discoveries – Westbrook, Big Lake, and Artesia fields, of commercial quantities of oil in Lower to Middle Permian strata – spread far across the Permian Basin, opening a vast area to exploration.
In 1924, the Red Bed map – perhaps the most important map ever drawn in the Permian Basin – was drafted and signed by O.C. “Kip” Harper. The Red Bed map is an isopach map of Late Triassic Dockum Group red bed facies directly above productive Middle Permian dolostone facies.
Harper thought he had discovered the largest anticline in the world. What he actually discovered was the south half of the Central Basin Platform. The remainder of the CBP was yet to be identified by exploration wells, along with the Midland, Delaware, Val Verde basins, and surrounding shelf margins.
To his employer, Gulf Oil, Harper recommended purchasing as much acreage as possible. Gulf, in turn, only leased 30 percent of what Harper recommended, which was 300,108 acres at a cost of $0.45 per acre.
That acquisition solidified Gulf’s position in the Permian Basin and was followed by several field discoveries, such as McCamey, McElroy, Yates, Hendrick, Waddell, North Ward-Estes, Keystone, and Goldsmith fields to name a few.
These discoveries provided the financial feedstock to enter international exploration in Venezuela, Iran, Kuwait, and West Africa. All these international ventures proved highly successful.
Early Deep Field Discovery
Back at Big Lake field on Dec. 1, 1928, the deepest well in the world, Texon University B-1, made a discovery of commercial oil in Early Ordovician Ellenberger Formation strata. As an example, one Ellenberger well, University 1-C, had an initial potential from two karstified cave horizons of 1,110 barrels of oil per day. After five years of production, the one well had a cumulative production of a million barrels.
Discovery of deep reservoir potential in cavernous Ellenberger strata opened the complete Paleozoic stratigraphic column to exploration, whereas earlier discoveries were limited to Lower and Middle Permian strata. And, as they say, “the rest is history,” as the basin transitioned from an era of discovery to an era of development.