energy

The exploration and production of oil and especially natural gas are the driving forces behind the economy of the State of Oklahoma, through both gross production tax revenues and revenues associated with increased employment. Natural gas represents about 82% of the State's production on a barrel of oil equivalency, which in recent years has made our economy tend to follow the price of natural gas. This price, which has fallen dramatically in the last year, is dependent on natural gas demand, which in turn is largely dependent on weather. Due mainly to higher prices, the State's gross production tax revenues in 2008 were about $1.5 billion. However, receipts in 2009 will probably fall close to where they were in 2007; about $1.0 billion.

In an effort to assist the industry, the Oklahoma Geological Survey undertakes a variety of petroleum-related geological studies that analyze the factors that affect production in particular reservoir rocks, and presents this information in inexpensive workshops and publications. This work is designed to give operators, especially the smaller ones that predominate in Oklahoma, a broader view of the oil and gas fields that they produce. This can help them to not only find new fields that are analogous to those that they operate, but also show them how to economically improve production in existing fields. 

Because both the industry and State benefit from successful drilling, the most important objective of petroleum geological work performed by the Oklahoma Geological Survey is to maximize the ultimate recovery of the energy resources that Nature so generously has bestowed upon us.