A new federal geological assessment finds that deep shale formations beneath the Permian Basin contain an estimated 1.6 billion barrels of previously undiscovered oil, underscoring Texas’ continued role as a cornerstone of U.S. energy production.
The study estimates that the same formations also hold 28.3 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered natural gas, resources that could be extracted using existing drilling technology. At current consumption rates, those volumes would be sufficient to supply the United States with natural gas for roughly 10 months and oil for about 10 weeks, according to the assessment.
The oil and gas are located primarily within the Woodford and Barnett shale formations, which extend beneath parts of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico. In some areas, the formations lie as deep as 20,000 feet below the surface, placing them beyond the reach of earlier drilling methods.
Despite decades of oil and gas activity in the Permian Basin, these formations have produced relatively little oil to date — about 26 million barrels since the late 1990s, roughly equivalent to one day of total U.S. consumption. Advances in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing have only recently made these deep shale layers accessible.
The study classifies the resources as “technically recoverable,” meaning they could be produced using current technology. The estimate does not account for whether development would be economically viable under current market conditions, nor does it indicate that production is imminent.
“The U.S. economy and our way of life depend on energy, and these assessments point to resources that industry hasn’t discovered yet,” the study’s authors noted, emphasizing that the findings reflect long-term geologic potential rather than near-term production forecasts.
The assessment is part of a broader federal effort to evaluate undiscovered oil and gas resources across major U.S. geologic regions, providing data used by policymakers, land managers, and energy planners to understand future supply potential.
