completedas oil producersand 448completed gas in as gasproducers for a successrate of 81.890. Oiland discoverywells drilled On the Bravodome in northeastNe* Mexico, 140 wells were completedas carbon-dioxide NewMexico in 1981 producers.In the SanJuan Basin ofnorthwest New Mexico, 1,379wells were completed; 218 byR. F. Broadhea4 PetroleumGeologist, New Mexico Bureauof Minesand Mineral Resources, of theseare oil wellsand 1,128are gas wells, Socorro,New Mexico calculatingto a successrate of 97.690.In the not-yet-productiveRaton Basin of Colfax Introduction completedin New Mexico in l98l; this setsa Countyand HaganBasin of SantaFe County, Drilling for oil and gas in New Mexico new recordfor completionsand surpassesthe wildcatsencountered promising shows of oil reacheda record high in 1981.Statistics ob- old record of 2,218 wells set in 1980.In the and gas from Cretaceousrocks. A record tainedfrom theNew MexicoOil Conservation Permian Basin of southeastNew Mexico, 14,076,000ft of well weredrilled in New Mex- Division indicatethat there were 2.867wells 1,348 wells were completedwith 655 wells ico in 1981, surpassingthe old record of I 1,278,000ft setin 1980.The averagedepth of wellsdrilled in l98l is 4,910ft, 175ft lessthan \ ,t8 Toos I theaverage depth of wellsdrilled in 1980. Rolon Fig. I showsthe locationsof the significant ao Mexico in 1981;table I Bosin wells drilled in New summarizesthe significantwildcat discoveries and table2 summarizesthe significantwildcat dry holes.For purposesof this paper,a sig- nificant wildcat discoveryis definedas a well in which commercialamounts of oil or gas I bonlo I from a formation have beendiscovered at a Fel distanceof more than 5 mi from the limits of n with Mrguel r previouslydiscovered fields commercial productionfrom that formation.A significant /) r wildcatdry hole is definedas a well drilled in '" Jt an unproductivebasil or part of a basinthat Acomo t, encounteredan encouragingshow of hydro- o Bosin carbonsbefore being abandoned. I l. Torronc/ SoutheastNew Mexico DeBoco Drilling activity has been high in all four __i-- geologicsubdivisions of the PermianBasin in PedernoI southeastNew Mexico: the Rooseveltuplift, uplift Cofron the northwestshelf of the DelawareBasin, the DelawareBasin, and the Central Basin plat- form. Theseareas yielded several significant f- oil andgas discoveries in l98l (fig. l; tablel). Kinney (1967, p. 26-27) presentedstrati- graphiccharts of oil- and gas-producingunits I in southeastNew Mexico. I On the Rooseveltuplift in southeastRoose- Gront \ velt County, three new discoverieshave ex- t( r-- ALSOIN THISISSUE: CarlsbadCaverns gYPsum deposits P.2O BishopAsh nearGrama P'22 LivingDesert State Park P'25 Aeromagnet ic/aerorad iometric maps P.26 O Oilwell Service/News P.28 l H Goswell COMINGSOON Drywett il O Pajaritofault zone of EspafiolaBasin localityin lower wlLDcAT DRTLLEDrN Nrw Mextco ountNc Cretaceousleaf FICURE l-SrcNrncnNr orI- ANDcAS DrscovERIESAND DRyHoLEs ShaleMember 1981. Major geologic featuresare taken from Ingersoll and Kelley (1979), Meyer (1966), Molenaar (1977), Kirtland Roberts and others (1976),and Thompson and others (1978). Seetables I and 2 for details. tended northward the limits of production show indicates that the Abo play may extend trated in San Juan and western Rio Arriba from Mississippian and Pennsylvanian rocks the northern limit of the present producing Counties. Few wildcats have been drilled, but (fig. 1; table 1). Particularly impressive were area up into De Baca County. the pace of development drilling in existing the twin discovery wells drilled by Enserch Ex- Elsewhere on the northwest shelf, the fields has been hot. Major development tar- plorationin sec.6, T.5 S., R.33 E.; the Harper Oil Company No. I Newlin discovered gets in the San Juan Basin are the Entrada Enserch No. I Finley was completed in the both oil and gas in the Strawn Series (Penn- Sandstone (Jurassic) and the Dakota Sand- Mississippian for an initial production of 116 sylvanian) and the AMOCO No. I O'Brien stone (Cretaceous), and sandstones of the barrels of oil per day (BOPD) and 23 barrels Ranch found gas in the Mississippian. Both of Mesaverde Group (Cretaceous) including the of water per day (BWPD); the No. I Annie these wells are located in eastern Chaves Gallup, Chacra, and Pictured Cliffs Sand- Harvey yielded 243 BOPD and ll3 BWPD County, which also is the site of much devel- stones. The stratigraphy of these units is from Pennsylvanian strata. This Pennsylva- opment drilling for oil in the San Andres For- reviewed by Green and Pierson (1977) and nian oil has an extremely high gravity of 46.9 mation (Permian). Molenaar (1977). degrees. Development drilling on the Roose- In the Delaware Basin of Eddy and western Impressive wildcat discoveries in the San velt uplift was targeted mainly at Pennsylva- Lea Counties, several exciting wildcat discov- Juan Basin have been in the Gallup Sandstone nian and Permian rocks. eries have been made as well as a great deal of and Greenhorn Limestone Member of the The northwest shelf of the Delaware Basin development dritling in 1981. Development Mancos Shale (Cretaceous). Gas was discov- is currently the most active area in southeast targets are gas in the Morrow and Atoka Se- ered in the Gallup by the Bixco No. 2 Trail New Mexico. Primary drilling targets are ries (Pennsylvanian) and oil in the Wolfcamp Canyon in northeast San Juan County (fig. 1; sandstones in the Abo Formation (Permian) Seriesand Bone Spring Limestone (Permian). table l). Initial flow was 12,195thousand ft' of north-central Chaves County. Drilling Three wildcats, the Superior Oil Company of gas per day (MCFGPD). This discovery is boomed after these sandstones were desig- No. I Meander Federal, the HCW Explora- 22 mi east of previously established Gallup nated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Com- tion No. I Dorstate, and the Florida Explora- production. Although reported as Gallup pro- mission as tight gas sands. This designation tion Company No. l0 Ross Draw Unit, have duction, the gas may actually be coming from allows producers to negotiate for wellhead extended Wolfcamp, Bone Spring, and Mor- the Tocito sandstone, a basinward equivalent prices as high as $4.92 per thousand ft' row production into south-central Eddy of the Gallup (Molenaar, 1977, p. 162). Oil (MCF), as opposedto a ceiling price of $2.81 County (fig. I, table 1), an area which pre- was found in the Greenhorn by the Consoli- per MCF for gas without the tight-sand desig- viously was relatively barren of production. dated Oil and Gas No. 2-E Navajo, also in San nation (Wheatley, l98l). Severalnew Abo gas On the Central Basin platform of eastern Juan County (fig. l; table l). Initial pro- fields were discoveredin 19'79and 1980. Drill- Lea County, development drilling of shallow duction was 53 BOPD and 44 BWPD. This is a ing in L98l has been confined mostly to devel- oil reservoirs in the San Andres, Grayburg, shallower pool discovery in the Basin Dakota opment of these fields, although some wild- Queen, Seven Rivers, and Yates Formations field. Gas was found in both the Gallup and cats have been drilled. Wells are typically (Permian) predominates and wildcat activity is the Greenhorn in San Juan County by the 4,000-5,000 ft deep and have initial potentials minimal. No outstanding discoveries have AMOCO Production Co. No. I Stanolind Gas of I million ft'of gasper day (MMCFGPD) to been drilled in l98l on the Central Basin plat- Commission B which had an initial potential 3 MMCFGPD. Presently,production is lim- form. of 2,891MCFGPD. ited to north-central Chaves County. The Northeast New Mexico Mesa Petroleum No. I Devils Federal, an im- Northwest New Mexico portant wildcat located in southwest De Baca The San Juan Basin of northwest New Mex- The Bravo dome in Union, Harding, and County (fig. l; table 2), testednoncommercial ico has seena high level of drilling activity in Quay Counties has been a hotbed of drilling amounts of gas in the Abo. This encouraging 1981. Most of this drillins has been concen- TABLE l-SrcNrnceNr wrLDcATDrscovERrES rN New Mrxrco rN 1981; the term "formation" is used in an informal sense.NR, not released;nopo, barrels of oil per day; nwpo, barrels of water per day; McFGPD' New AAexnc@ ,h""r."d ft' .f 9", p GEOLOGY (ft) . Setvice OFraLor, wellnunhr, and lease fo Scisnceand I 33-6S-34E Energy ReserveGroup, lnc. t/8t t,200 Cranite Wash Cisco ?,6?9- t0 BOPD NR Volume 4, No. 2, MaY 1982 Rooseveh No. I El Paso State (Pennsylvanian) 1,704 + 27 BWPD 2 6-55-338 EnserchExploration,lnc. 4/tt t,500 Precambrian Mississippian 8,250- 1l6 BOPD 40.t published quarrerlY bY Roosevelt No. I Finley t,302 + 23 BWPD New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources 3 6-5S-33E EnserchExploration,lnc. 1/8t t,3E3 Mississippian Pennsylvanian 8,190- 243BOPD 46.9 a division of New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology Roosevelt No. I Annie Harvey t,196 + 13BWPD 24-65-29E Harper Oil Co. 2/81 8,325 Precambrian Strawn 1,403 300 MCFGPD 46.E BOARD OF REGENTS Chaves No. I Newlin (Pennsylvanian) 7,4t2 + 9 BOPD Ex Officio + 15BWPD Bruce King, Govezor o.f New Mexico 5 26-8S-29E AMOCO Production Co. 5/Et 9,t74 Fusselman Mississippian E,398- 745MCFCPD Leonard Delayo, Saperintendenl oJ Public Instruction (Silurian) 8,520 Chaves No. I O'Brien Ranch Appointed 6 32-l3S-34E AMOCO Production Co. 6/Et 14,43E Devonian Atoka-Morrow 12,230- 6,45t MCFGPD 'FO' william G. Abbott. 1961 1985, Hobbs Lea No. 3 State (OWWO) (Pennsylvanian) t2,565 Judy Floyd, 1911-1987, Los Cruces Wolfcamp 6,218- l,200MCFGPD 1 25-l95-23E Mesa Petroleum Corp. 4/8t 8,660 Mississippian Owen Lopez, 19'77-1983,Santa Fe Eddy No. I Si€grestSrate (Permian) 6,224 t,450MCFGPD 't Dave Rice, Secty/Treas., 1912-1983, Carlsbad lnc.