The Apache Corporation announced Wednesday they’ve found a ‘significant discovery’ in Reeves County.

 

The company said they’ve secured more than 300,000 acres in the region, along with numbers in the billions and trillions for the amount of oil and gas discovered. 

 

An estimated 75 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and more than 3 billion barrels of oil, the exact numbers discovered by Apache in the Delaware Basin.

 

“Apache is saying hey, it looks like we can drill these wells at today’s prices and get an economic rate of return,” Latigo Petroleum President Kirk Edwards said. “For us in West Texas and the service companies that are dependent upon these rigs running out here, it’s huge news.”

 

Edwards said this is the shot in the arm the local economy needs right now, because it could add hundreds of jobs in the Permian and Delaware basin oil sectors.

 

“It’s really good for us because it helps give these service companies some hope that there’s more work on the way,” Edwards said. “They’re the big employers out here in West Texas right now.”

 

Apache released a statement Wednesday, which reads in part:

 

“Today’s announcement is the culmination of more than two years of hard work by the Apache team. While other companies have focused on acquisitions during the downturn, we took a contrarian approach and focused on organic growth opportunities.”

 

Stephen Robertson with the Permian Basin Petroleum Association said Apache has secured more than 300,000 acres in this region.

 

“Apache and several other companies have been in the Delaware and in Reeves County for a good while now,” Robertson said. “Everybody knew that there was something big out there, but they didn’t know quite what it was. It’s great that we’re not just going into old formations and old producing areas that we know about, that we’re finding new areas that we can find even more reserves in.”

 

Both oil experts said it’ll take some time to see if this discovery will have a direct impact on oil prices and at last check oil is sitting at about $45 a barrel, according to NASDAQ.