Region: Northern Midcontinent Forest City Basin Province This description of the Forest City Basin Province is from the U. S. Geological Survey 1995 National Assessment of United States Oil and Gas Resources (available on CD-ROM from the U.S.G.S. as Digital Data Series DDS-30, Release 2).

Forest City Basin Province

Introduction

The Forest City Basin Province, extends from southwestern Iowa and northeastern Kansas to central Missouri. It consists of 58 counties; the boundaries of this province all follow county boundaries. The province is 240 mi long (north-south) by 195 mi wide (east-west) and has an area of 32,000 sq mi.

Petroleum exploration in the Forest City Basin Province began in 1860 with drilling in Miami County, Kans., and discovery of oil near Paola. The first discovery larger than 1 MMBOE was in 1882, also in Miami County, Kans. (Paola-Rantoul field). More than 10,000 wells have been drilled in the province, and 21 fields larger than 1 MMBOE have been discovered. Discovered resources as of the end of 1990 total more than 100 MMBO and over 15 BCFG. Among the largest fields in the province are Paola-Rantoul field (more than 41 MMBO), in Franklin, Johnson, and Miami Counties, Kansas; and Falls City field (more than 5 MMBO), in Richardson County, Nebraska

The plays for the Forest City Basin Province were erected primarily by grouping the accumulations by the age of the reservoir rocks. Thus, the reservoirs and prospects in the pre-Woodford Paleozoic rocks are in Pre- Woodford Paleozoic Play. Mississippian reservoirs are assigned to Mississippian Play and Pennsylvanian reservoirs to Pennsylvanian Play. Another play which occurs in the Forest City Basin Province is the Precambrian Midcontinent Rift System Play.

Acknowledgments

Scientists affiliated with the American Association of Petroleum Geologists and from various State geological surveys contributed significantly to play concepts and definitions. Their contributions are gratefully acknowledged.

References

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