Oklahoma was one of the first states to strike it rich in oil. The first commercial oil discovery in what would become Oklahoma happened in 1859 — the same year as the famous Pennsylvania oil discovery that started the American oil industry. Oklahoma has been producing oil ever since. Today, the state pumps about 440,000 barrels of oil per day. That makes it one of the top oil-producing states in the country.
Who Regulates Oklahoma's Oil and Gas?
The Oklahoma Corporation Commission, or OCC, is the state agency that oversees oil and gas in Oklahoma. Like the Texas Railroad Commission, it issues drilling permits, tracks production, and enforces safety rules. The OCC also regulates pipelines and oversees well plugging. All well records in Oklahoma are filed with the OCC. The data is public and searchable on the OCC's website.
The OCC was created in 1907 when Oklahoma became a state. It has three elected commissioners, just like Texas. Each commissioner serves a six-year term. The OCC's records go back to statehood and represent one of the most complete oil and gas archives in the country.
What Is the Anadarko Basin?
The Anadarko Basin is the most important oil and gas basin in Oklahoma. It covers western and central Oklahoma and extends into the Texas Panhandle. It is a deep basin — in some places the oil-bearing rock is more than 30,000 feet underground. The Anadarko has been producing since the 1920s. It has yielded dozens of different formations at different depths over the decades. Newer horizontal drilling is unlocking tight formations that were left behind by older technology.
What Is the SCOOP Play?
SCOOP stands for South Central Oklahoma Oil Province. It is a shale and tight rock oil play in south-central Oklahoma, roughly in the area of Stephens, Garvin, Grady, McClain, and Carter counties. SCOOP targets the Woodford Shale, the Springer Formation, and the Sycamore Limestone. These are very deep formations — sometimes 14,000 to 17,000 feet down. Wells are expensive to drill but can produce a lot of oil and gas. The SCOOP play took off around 2012 and remains active today.
What Is the STACK Play?
STACK stands for Sooner Trend Anadarko Canadian Kingfisher. Those words are the names of geographic features in north-central Oklahoma. The STACK targets the Meramec and Woodford formations in Canadian, Kingfisher, and Blaine counties. The Meramec is the main target. It is a tight limestone and silty rock formation — not a shale, but it behaves similarly. Horizontal drilling and fracking are used here too. STACK wells can produce oil and natural gas liquids at the same time. The play was very active between 2014 and 2019 and still sees ongoing drilling today.
How Does Oklahoma's Production Break Down?
Oklahoma's 440,000 barrels per day comes from a mix of old and new fields. The state has thousands of old conventional wells — wells drilled straight down into oil-bearing sandstone formations. Many of these have been producing for 50 or 100 years, albeit at lower rates now. The SCOOP and STACK shale plays contribute a significant share of newer production. Oklahoma also produces large amounts of natural gas. In some months, the state is more of a gas producer than an oil producer by volume.
What Do Scout Tickets Tell Us About Oklahoma?
Oklahoma's long drilling history means that scout tickets and well records go back many decades. The OCC's records show hundreds of thousands of wells. Many of these old wells targeted formations that are now being revisited with horizontal drilling. An old dry hole from the 1960s, drilled with vertical technology, might sit right in the middle of a modern SCOOP or STACK target zone. The scout ticket from that old well can tell you what formations were encountered and whether any oil shows were recorded. That kind of historical data is priceless when evaluating modern prospects in Oklahoma.
Where Can You Access Oklahoma Well Data?
The OCC publishes its well records, production data, and permit information on its website. You can search by operator, county, or API number. An API number is a unique identification number assigned to every oil and gas well in the United States. Oklahoma's two-digit state code is 35. Every Oklahoma well has a unique 10-digit API number. ScoutTickets.io is expanding to cover Oklahoma data, helping exploration teams access and interpret this information quickly.