Oil & Gas Exploration on the Eastern Shelf
Girvin Ranch is seeking qualified operators to evaluate conventional oil and gas opportunities on 1,997 acres of privately controlled land in Mitchell County, Texas.
The answers an operator wants first.
On the shelf, not in the deep basin.
Open, working West Texas land in Mitchell County, on the Eastern Shelf of the Permian Basin. The rigs went west to the deep basin, and this shallower country was passed over.
The ranch ran cattle and crops through the 1990s, and the family still works it on a small scale. The surface has a working history.
Position relative to the play. Exact boundaries, block configuration, and access routing are shared during qualified diligence.
Targets described in prior prospect work.
Geological and prospect work associated with the property identifies conventional targets on the Eastern Shelf of the Permian Basin: the Strawn Formation, the Upper to Middle Cisco, and the Middle to Upper Wolfcamp. The work describes stacked pay reachable with a single vertical well, structural and stratigraphic trapping, and production in the adjacent Nena Lucia field area.
The setting has history behind it. Mitchell County holds the first commercial oil well drilled in West Texas, in 1920, and the county has produced ever since. The materials behind this summary are available to qualified parties.
Schematic. Order of the targets per the prospect work on file. Depths and thicknesses are in the technical materials, shared on request.
Up to 200 feet of sandstone at the top of the Strawn.
Strawn
The prospect work describes a coarsening-upward sandstone sequence up to 200 ft thick at the top of the Strawn, with high resistivity, structural positioning near the Nena Lucia field, and prior production in the area. Prior interpretation.
Cisco
The work targets high-saturation shelf-edge sandstones and reef carbonates in the Upper to Middle Cisco, with shale seals and structural and stratigraphic trapping. Prior interpretation.
Wolfcamp
The prospect work targets multiple saturated intervals in the Middle to Upper Wolfcamp within structural and stratigraphic traps. Regionally the Wolfcamp is a major Permian Basin producer. Regional estimates do not apply directly to this acreage.
Producing fields on both sides, for a century.
The regional literature cited in the prospect work (Hentz, Ambrose, and Hamlin, 2017; West Texas Geological Society) describes the Eastern Shelf as under-exploited relative to the deep basin: shallower targets, conventional vertical drilling, and lower development cost.
Hydrocarbons at two levels
The record documents hydrocarbons at both shallow (less than 3,500 ft) and deeper (more than 7,000 ft) levels across the Eastern Shelf, reflecting the changing geometry of the shelf system through time.
Fault zones and stratigraphic traps
Thickness changes of 1,000 to 2,000 ft in Pennsylvanian and Permian rocks occur across the north-to-south fault zones bounding the shelf. Stratigraphic wedge geometries along the shelf edge create conditions suited to hydrocarbon confinement.
The producing fields on either side
Two major fields anchor the central Eastern Shelf slope: the East Howard County and Ridge field to the west, and the Jameson Strawn and Nena Lucia field to the southeast. The regional work describes the areas between them as comparatively underdeveloped, having been passed over during less favorable economic conditions.
A century of Mitchell County production
The first commercial oil well in West Texas was drilled at the Westbrook field of Mitchell County in 1920, the first discovery of oil in Permian-aged rocks. Hundreds of millions of barrels have been produced from the county since.
Where the regional description comes from.
The regional geology summarized above is drawn from published work cited in the prospect materials, not from our own interpretation. The principal reference is:
- Hentz, T. F., Ambrose, W. A., and Hamlin, H. S., 2017. Upper Pennsylvanian and Lower Permian Shelf-to-Basin Facies Architecture and Trends, Eastern Shelf of the Southern Midland Basin, West Texas. Report of Investigations 282, Bureau of Economic Geology, The University of Texas at Austin.
- The prospect work also cites material published by the West Texas Geological Society. Those references are listed in full in the technical materials rather than summarized here.
Published regional work describes the Eastern Shelf as a whole. Operators evaluate this acreage on their own work.
One family. Surface, minerals, royalties, and the right to lease.
The family holds the surface rights, the mineral rights, the royalty rights, and the right to lease across its properties. Exploration, drilling, water use, caliche extraction, and energy development are negotiated with one family, through a single point of contact.
Across much of West Texas the mineral rights have been severed from the surface. An operator leases from one owner and answers to another. Not here.
Qualified parties get the files.
Send an inquiry describing your organization, intended use, timeline, and relevant operating experience. Materials are released following a short qualification exchange.
What you receive
- A prepared technical brief on the property
- The underlying maps and geological sections
- The prospect materials behind the target summary
- The regional analog work and the literature it cites
- Ownership information covering surface, minerals, royalties, and leasing rights
These are prior interpretations released for your own diligence. They are not a reserve report, an engineering opinion, or a production guarantee, and they do not substitute for independent title work.
What we are looking for
Girvin Ranch is open to discussions with qualified operators about exploration, leasing, and development structures which work alongside long-term family ownership. Structure and terms are agreed directly.
Oil & gas questions
Where is the acreage and how large is it?
1,997 acres in Mitchell County, West Texas, near Colorado City and Lake Champion, on the Eastern Shelf of the Permian Basin. The land sits in two blocks of similar size in the same area, each with its own access. The exact location, boundaries, and access routing are shared after a qualified inquiry.
What geological setting is the property in?
The Eastern Shelf of the Permian Basin, east of the deep basin around Midland and Odessa. The shelf carries a shallower column than the deep basin, which is what makes a conventional vertical well reasonable here.
What targets have been identified?
Prior prospect work identifies conventional targets in the Strawn Formation, the Upper to Middle Cisco, and the Middle to Upper Wolfcamp, with stacked pay described as reachable with a single vertical well.
Who controls the surface, the minerals, and the royalties?
The family holds the surface rights, the mineral rights, the royalty rights, and the right to lease across its properties.
Is there pipeline, power, and road access?
An existing 8-inch north-south pipeline crosses the ranch, operated by Energy Transfer, formerly Sunoco. Three-phase service is available on the north side, with single-phase elsewhere. The property is reached from the Interstate 20 corridor and State Highway 208, with built-up caliche ranch roads on the property.
Are water and caliche available for drilling operations?
The property carries groundwater and caliche, and both have been put to commercial use in the past. See Water & Caliche.
Can technical materials be reviewed?
Yes. A prepared technical brief and the underlying maps and prospect materials are released to qualified parties following a short qualification exchange and, where appropriate, a confidentiality agreement.
Is the landowner actively open to a deal?
Yes. The family is seeking qualified oil and gas operators interested in evaluating the acreage and submitting lease or development proposals. Structure and terms are agreed directly with the family.
All geological, resource, production, water, and economic information on this site is historical, regional, preliminary, or informational unless expressly stated otherwise. Nothing on this website constitutes a reserve report, an engineering opinion, a securities offering, investment advice, a production guarantee, or a water availability guarantee. Qualified parties should conduct independent legal, geological, engineering, environmental, and commercial due diligence. Disclaimer