Attributes of sweet spots in the Devonian Woodford shales in Oklahoma, USA

The Devonian Woodford shale play in Oklahoma is one of the big unconventional shale oil and gas production fields in USA, which covers the Anadarko, Ardmore and Arkoma basins and Cherokee Platform. The shales are rich in organic matter, with the maximum content of 14%. They have entered condensate gas or mature oil windows. The vitrinite reflectance (R_o) values range from 0.6% to 1.4%. Shale thickness exceeds 20 m. The water isolating layer beneath the shale formation should be at least 15 meters thick to avoid fractures made by hydraulic fracturing reaching the water bearing layer. Shale formations with a TOC content of 7% with chert layers with well developed fractures are the most promising. Well locations should be far away from major faults. Based on the attributes of sweet spots, we should design a specific drilling program to reduce drilling risk and cost and achieve high profit.