Reservoir beds of porous sandstones and carbonate rocks are widespread in the Jurassic province of the Gulf Coast. They have been found in structural and stratigraphic situations which have resulted in the production of nearly 613 million bbl of oil and condensate and 3.9 trillion cu ft of gas. Virtually all of the production is confined to the mature areas in Arkansas and Louisiana and to the semideveloped areas in Texas and Mississippi, and is principally from the Schuler, Haynesville, and Smackover Formations.

If long-range growth is to be realized in the maturely developed provinces, which are in the stage of declining producing rates, or in the semideveloped areas, which are being exploited rapidly, the exploration search must turn to unconventional traps and other Jurassic strata. The remaining immature areas, many of which are in the greater depth range, have had varied degrees of investigation. Trends which now are undergoing rapid development in semideveloped areas may be extended into adjacent immature areas. In other immature regions, although favorable structural and stratigraphic conditions may be expected, present data suggest that greater areal selectivity must be exercised and that there will be comparatively more areas of poor reservoir quality. Jurassic formations at depths g eater than 20,000 ft (6,100 m) are not expected to be of widespread productive significance.

The principal problems to be solved in the search for future reserves are of a technological and an economic nature; the technological aspects are largely in the field of exploration, and the economic problems are in both exploration and production.