Bone Spring
Formation

The Bone Spring Formation is a Permian-aged sequence of interbedded sandstones, siltstones, and shales that sits above the Wolfcamp in the Delaware sub-basin of the Permian. The formation is developed primarily in southeast New Mexico (Lea and Eddy counties) and into the adjacent Texas counties of Loving and Reeves. In recent years it has been one of the most active oil-producing targets in the basin, often paired with Wolfcamp completions on stacked-pay developments.

Therocks beneath your minerals.

The Bone Spring is divided into a Bone Spring Limestone (also called the Bone Spring Carbonate) and three sand intervals labeled First, Second, and Third Bone Spring Sand. The sand benches are the primary horizontal targets, while the carbonate and shales between them produce in some areas through hybrid completions or by intersecting natural fracture networks.

The depositional environment was a deep-water carbonate shelf and slope, with sandstones representing turbidite and gravity flow deposits that brought reservoir-quality clastic material into the deeper water. This produces a heterogeneous reservoir where local geology matters: a strong Second Bone Spring Sand in one section can be a marginal target in another section a mile away.

Total Bone Spring section thickness ranges from 1,500 to 3,500 feet across the basin, deepening to the east. The presence and thickness of each individual sand bench varies enough that operators design their development plans around the local stratigraphy rather than applying a single template.

Where theproduction lives.

Bone Spring activity has been steady through the recent commodity cycle. The Second and Third Bone Spring Sands are the dominant targets, with First Bone Spring activity picking up in select areas. Most major Permian operators include the Bone Spring in their development inventory alongside the Wolfcamp.

Bone Spring wells tend to produce more oil and less gas than Wolfcamp wells in the same area, with gas-to-oil ratios that have stayed relatively stable while neighboring Wolfcamp gas-to-oil ratios have crept upward. This makes Bone Spring development attractive in periods when oil prices are favorable relative to gas, which is the prevailing condition for most of the past decade.

Modern horizontal Bone Spring wells deliver strong initial production rates, with the strongest results concentrated in the most productive parts of Lea and Loving counties.

Mineral rights in theBone Spring.

Mineral owners in the Delaware sub-basin of the Permian commonly receive royalty income from Bone Spring wells alongside Wolfcamp wells. The 2nd Bone Spring sand is the most likely current producer, though 1st and 3rd sand wells are also developed selectively across the basin.

For inheritors with Delaware Basin interests, the Bone Spring position is typically a meaningful component of total mineral value alongside the underlying Wolfcamp. Combined development across the Bone Spring sands, the Wolfcamp benches, and sometimes the Avalon can produce many wells per drilling spacing unit over the development cycle, generating staged royalty income across years.

Lease terms across the Delaware Basin vary significantly by vintage and counterparty. Modern leases often carry different royalty and post-production cost language than older legacy leases, which can substantially affect net royalty income beyond what the production data alone would suggest. We are happy to walk through what your specific lease language means alongside the well data on your tract.