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A vast field of shale rock in West Texas could yield 20 billion barrels of oil, making it the largest source of shale oil the U.S. Geological Survey has ever assessed, agency officials said. The Wolfcamp Shale geologic formation in the Midland area also contains an estimated 16 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 1.6 billion barrels of natural gas liquids, the agency said in a release. The discovery is nearly three times larger than the shale oil found in 2013 in the Bakken and Three Forks formations in the Dakotas and Montana, said Chris Schenk, a Denver-based research...

Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE:XOM) has entered into a non-monetary exchange agreement with LINN Energy LLC (NASDAQ: LINE) to add 17,800 net acres in the Permian Basin to its US oil and natural gas portfolio managed by subsidiary XTO Energy Inc. “Our operated-acreage position in the Midland Basin Wolfcamp core is now around 120,000 net acres. We continue to increase drilling activity in the play, currently operating six horizontal rigs, and are very encouraged by initial well results.” In the exchange, LINN Energy will receive interest in about 500 net acres from ExxonMobil’s South Belridge Field near Bakersfield, California. In the...

The Jaw-Dropping Potential in This American Oil Patch Could Change the World By Tyler Crowe |May 24, 2014 | It may not look like much, but this might be the biggest oil field in the world (Source: Devon Energy Media Resources).The pride and joy of Saudi Arabia's oil industry has been the Ghawar oil field, which has been recognized as the largest in the world ever since its discovery in 1948. That is, perhaps, until now. A shale oil formation deep beneath the plains of West Texas has been sitting right under our noses for years, and Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE: PXD  )...

The Cline Shale is huge, liquids-rich and deliciously sweet The Barnett Shale? That’s so last week. The Eagle Ford? Been there, done that. Not that there’s anything wrong with these two fields in Texas, of course. It’s just that much of their initial “boom” has already come to pass. Now they’re just about churning out steady and rising production. For many E&P firms — and investors — finding the field in its “boom” phase is key to getting amazing growth and portfolio returns. Luckily, a little-known field in West Texas could be the next hot ticket for energy producers —...