An Illinois Basin emerging unconventional play. What mineral owners in Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky should know.
Get Your Free Mineral ValuationTL;DR New Albany Shale mineral rights across the Illinois Basin (Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky). Geology, wildcat drilling activity, and what mineral owners should know about this emerging play.
The New Albany Shale is an Upper Devonian organic-rich black shale underlying much of the Illinois Basin across southern Illinois, southwestern Indiana, and western Kentucky. The formation is a stratigraphic equivalent to the Marcellus and Antrim shales and shares many of their characteristics — organic content, depth window, and natural fracture patterns.
U.S. Geological Survey assessments have estimated the New Albany Shale contains more than 300 billion barrels of original oil in place across the Illinois Basin, with multi-trillion-cubic-feet undiscovered gas resources. While historical activity in the play has been modest relative to the Marcellus or Bakken, recent advances in horizontal drilling and completion techniques have produced renewed wildcat exploration interest.
Age: Upper Devonian (~365 million years), stratigraphically equivalent to Marcellus and Antrim
Depth: Approximately 2,000–5,000 feet TVD across the basin
Lithology: Organic-rich black shale with TOC commonly 6–15%; natural fracture systems variable across the basin
Hydrocarbon window: Oil-prone in updip eastern positions; gas-prone in deeper downdip western positions
Wabash, Crawford, Lawrence, White, Wayne, Hamilton, Saline, Gallatin
Posey, Gibson, Knox, Sullivan, Daviess, Greene, Pike
Henderson, Daviess, Hopkins, Webster, Union, McLean
Most existing Illinois Basin oil and gas leases were drafted in the era of conventional Aux Vases, Cypress, and McClosky waterflood production. Many older lease forms in this region do not address deeper or unconventional formations, and may include shallow depth limitations that exclude the New Albany interval. If your acreage sits in a county with documented or suspected New Albany Shale exposure, lease language is the critical question.
This is a legal question that depends on the specific lease and jurisdiction. We recommend reviewing your lease with a qualified Illinois, Indiana, or Kentucky oil and gas attorney before signing any new lease, ratification, or amendment.
Buckhead Energy buys mineral and royalty interests across the Illinois Basin.
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