The Bone Spring formation
Geology, footprint, and mineral-owner context for the Bone Spring, drawn from public USGS and state survey sources. Resource figures describe the play as a whole and are not a per-acre value. Every figure on this page is an estimate subject to verification of your specific interest.
Last updated June 2026.
What is the Bone Spring?
The Bone Spring is the stacked Permian-age sand and carbonate interval that sits above the Wolfcamp in the Delaware Basin and is a primary horizontal oil target across Lea and Eddy counties in New Mexico and Loving, Reeves, and Ward counties in West Texas. The USGS assessed the Bone Spring together with the Delaware Wolfcamp at a mean of about 46.3 billion barrels of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil for the play as a whole, not for any one property.
The Bone Spring is the Delaware Basin's other major pay, layered above the Wolfcamp and made up of alternating sand and carbonate intervals, usually described as the First, Second, and Third Bone Spring sands. Operators in southeast New Mexico and far West Texas drill the Bone Spring and the Wolfcamp from the same leases, which is why a Delaware Basin tract in Lea or Eddy County can be developed across several benches over many years. For a mineral owner that stacked development is the source of value, because it means more wells and a longer income life from the same acreage. As always, the worth of your interest tracks the income your wells actually pay, not the play-wide resource figure.
Bone Spring geology
- Age and lithology
- Permian-age (Leonardian) interbedded sandstone, siltstone, and carbonate deposited in the Delaware Basin. Source: USGS National and Global Petroleum Assessment.
- Stacked sands
- Typically divided into the First, Second, and Third Bone Spring sands, each a separate horizontal target above the Wolfcamp.
- Where it produces
- The Delaware Basin: Lea and Eddy counties in New Mexico, and Loving, Reeves, Ward, and Winkler counties in West Texas.
How much oil and gas the Bone Spring holds
The USGS assessed the Wolfcamp and Bone Spring of the Delaware Basin together to hold a mean of about 46.3 billion barrels of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil, about 281 trillion cubic feet of gas, and about 20 billion barrels of natural gas liquids. This is an undiscovered play-wide estimate, not proven reserves and not a measure of any individual property.
Source: USGS Fact Sheet 2018-3073 (Wolfcamp and Bone Spring, Delaware Basin).
Counties in the Bone Spring play
These are the counties and parishes we cover where the Bone Spring produces. Each links to local value context and the operators active there.
What the Bone Spring means for your minerals
A resource estimate for a play is not the value of your acreage. Your mineral and royalty interest is valued on the income your wells actually pay, roughly 36 to 72 times your average monthly royalty check, the same as 3 to 6 times your annual royalty. Where you land in that band depends on your wells decline, the operator, your royalty rate, and any undeveloped drilling upside. For the full method and a free on-screen estimate, see what are my mineral rights worth.
The Bone Spring is part of the Permian Basin. For the basin-wide value bands and the counties we buy in, see the Permian Basin page.
Bone Spring questions
- What is the Bone Spring formation?
- The Bone Spring is a stacked Permian-age sand and carbonate interval in the Delaware Basin, sitting above the Wolfcamp. It is a primary horizontal oil target in Lea and Eddy counties in New Mexico and in Loving, Reeves, and Ward counties in West Texas.
- How is the Bone Spring different from the Wolfcamp?
- They are different intervals in the same Delaware Basin column. The Bone Spring sands sit above the deeper Wolfcamp shale and carbonate benches. Operators often develop both from the same leases, which is part of why Delaware Basin minerals support long, multi-bench development.
- Does the Bone Spring resource estimate value my minerals?
- No. The USGS figure is an undiscovered, technically recoverable estimate for the whole play, not proven reserves and not a per-acre value. Your interest is valued on the income your wells actually pay, roughly 36 to 72 times your average monthly check. This is an estimate, subject to verification, not an offer.
Sources
See what your Bone Spring minerals could be worth
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