The Emerging Cherokee Shale and Other Pennsylvanian Plays in the Western Anadarko Basin

   The Anadarko Basin encompasses parts of Western Oklahoma, the Texas Panhandle, Kansas, and Eastern Colorado. It is thickest where it terminates against the Wichita Uplift on its southern end in Oklahoma and Texas, where the sedimentary sequence reaches 40,000 ft in thickness. It has some of the deepest wells in the U.S. It is one of the most prolific natural gas deposits in the U.S., with around 100TCF in original reserves, including natural gas liquids. 

     In 2019, IHS Markit estimated that unconventional reservoirs in unrisked technically recoverable resources of the basin were 16 billion barrels, and that is just unconventional. They also estimated technically recoverable unconventional gas reserves at 200TCF. Those estimates do not include the Granite Wash, which is currently a major producing formation. At the time, IHS Markit noted that it was difficult to get basin-wide information on producing formations. They count about 41 or more in the basin, with many of them overlapping. The two major unconventional plays are known as the SCOOP and STACK plays. There is also the SWISH play in the liquids-rich southeastern part of the Anadarko Basin.  

“As it stands now {2019/2020}, only about 20 percent of the Anadarko’s STACK sweet spot locations have been drilled or developed,” he states. “The play is still in its early stages of unconventional development. We can easily envision an additional 4,000-5,000 horizontal wells drilled.”

     The Cleveland and Tonkawa plays remain active in the Western Anadarko. Mewbourne Oil is a leader in current Cleveland drilling, focused in Ellis County, Oklahoma.

     Recently, an emerging unconventional play in the Western Anadarko Basin is the Cherokee Shale, a 200-400 ft thick Pennsylvanian deposit of black and gray shale. The play is centered in Ellis County, Oklahoma, near the borders of the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles. Sand Ridge Energy acquired acreage there in July 2024 and is currently modestly developing it. The potential is thought to extend through a handful of counties. Cherokee wells in the area are typically 9000-10500 ft in true vertical depth (TVD) with 2-mile laterals common. Sand Ridge's assets and Cherokee wells are shown below.

     Acreage in the Western Anadarko is cheaper than in the prolific Permian Basins. It is, however, more dependent on higher oil prices than the Permian. A summary of operators currently exploring the Western Anadarko is given below by Zachary Frazier in a February 2025 article in Oklahoma Minerals.

     Mewbourne has been active in the Cherokee play for a few years. Upland Exploration notes that they may have drilled the best well yet in the play, as referenced in this March 2025 LinkedIn post from Cody Tucker of Convey 640:

“Did Upland Exploration just drill the best Cherokee well to date in Oklahoma? Those close to this recently completed well think so! With this area already delivering strong production, these Upland results will have all eyes on the region to see what comes next. Congrats to the Upland team on a potential game-changer!”

     Reservoir intelligence company NuTech plans to release a comprehensive regional study of the Cherokee Shale soon, utilizing log data, core data, and production data for about 500 wells that penetrated the formation. 

 

     The following is from another LinkedIn post:

 References:

 

The Western Anadarko Basin: A Resurgent Oil and Gas Frontier. Zachary Frazier. Oklahoma Minerals.  February 24, 2025. The Western Anadarko Basin: A Resurgent Oil and Gas Frontier - OklahomaMinerals.com

The ‘Emerging’ Cherokee Shale. David Brown. AAPG Explorer. May 2025. The ‘Emerging’ Cherokee Shale

Anadarko Basin. Wikipedia. Anadarko Basin - Wikipedia

Anadarko Basin: Study Finds Huge Oil And Gas Reserves Upside. American Oil & Gas Reporter. Augsut 8, 2020, or January 2019. Study Finds Huge Oil And Gas Reserves Upside

SandRidge to Acquire Cherokee Play Assets in Western Anadarko. Rocky Teodoro. Rigzone. July 30, 2024. SandRidge to Acquire Cherokee Play Assets in Western Anadarko | Rigzone

Western Anadarko Basin Transaction. SandRidge Energy, Inc. Investor Presentation. September 2024. PowerPoint Presentation

The Western Anadarko Basin. With dozens of stacked oil, wet-gas and dry-gas formations in this corner of the Midcontinent, operators have decades of new high-return, horizontal wells to drill. Nissa Darbonne. Oil & Gas Investor. October 2011. Western-Anadarko-Basin-Oct-OGI-2011 (1).pdf