Petroleum Production – United States - Oil Production in the Permian Basin, West Texas and New Mexico

The Permian Basin as it appears in the title of this article refers to three rather widely separated areas of production. It includes what are commonly known as the "Panhandle" fields of the northwest part of Texas; the West Texas fields, in the southwest part of Texas; and the New Mexico fields, in the southeast corner of New Mexico. These three areas are all included in a single province and produce the majority of their oil from limestones or dolomites of Permian age. The manner of accumulation of oil in the three areas is somewhat diverse. In the Panhandle, production is found on the flanks of an enormous structural ridge, the core of which is granite. In southwest Texas and New Mexico oil is produced from both gentle and steep folds and from lenticular areas of porosity. Production in Texas During 1927 Texas produced a total of 216,306,000 bbl. of oil of which the Permian Basin contributed 89,797,000 bbl., or 42 per cent. During 1928, Texas produced 255,021,000 bbl. of oil of which the Permian Basin contributed 145,955,000 bbl., or 57 per cent. The increase in total production is entirely due to the West Texas fields. All other districts in Texas declined during the year while the west Texas fields registered an increase of more than 71,000,000 bbl. West Texas daily average production increased from 260,752 bbl, at the beginning of 1928 to a maximum of 406,318 bbl. per day the first week in May. Due to prora-tion agreements, the production was held at a fairly constant level around 340,000 bbl. during the remainder of the year, having 345,660 bbl. the last week in December. Daily average production of the Panhandle fields decreased from 80,178 bbl. at the beginning of the year to 59,025 bbl. at the close of the year. The combined daily average production of the Panhandle and West Texas fields at the beginning of the year was 341,138 bbl. and at the close of the year was 405,408 barrels. Fig. 1 gives a comparison of the production in the Permian Basin in relation to the production of the entire state. It is clearly shown that