The Granite Wash formation
Geology, footprint, and mineral-owner context for the Granite Wash, 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 Granite Wash?
The Granite Wash is a Pennsylvanian-age arkosic wash and conglomerate shed off the Amarillo-Wichita uplift along the western Anadarko Basin, a stacked tight-sand interval that produces liquids-rich gas in Roger Mills and Ellis counties in Oklahoma and Wheeler and Hemphill counties in the Texas Panhandle. It is valued as part of the broader Anadarko Basin Province that the USGS has assessed for undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and gas, a play-wide figure rather than a per-acre yield.
The Granite Wash is a coarse, sand-and-gravel apron that eroded off the Amarillo-Wichita uplift and piled up along the southwestern edge of the Anadarko Basin during the Pennsylvanian. Because it was dumped in successive pulses, it forms a thick stack of separate tight-sand and conglomerate benches, which is why operators target it with horizontal wells that can reach several pay zones from one tract. The most active development sits in Roger Mills and Ellis counties in western Oklahoma and Wheeler and Hemphill counties in the Texas Panhandle, where the wash tends to be liquids-rich, producing a mix of gas, condensate, and natural gas liquids. For a mineral owner, a Granite Wash royalty is valued on the income the wells actually pay, on the standard income multiple, with the liquids share of production influencing where it lands in the range.
Granite Wash geology
- Age and lithology
- Pennsylvanian-age arkosic sandstone and conglomerate, an alluvial-fan and fan-delta wash shed off the Amarillo-Wichita uplift. Source: USGS Anadarko Basin Province assessment and Oklahoma Geological Survey.
- Stacked tight sand
- Deposited in successive pulses, the wash forms multiple stacked tight-sand and conglomerate benches, so one tract can host several horizontal wells.
- Where it produces
- The southwestern Anadarko Basin margin: Roger Mills and Ellis counties in Oklahoma and Wheeler and Hemphill counties in the Texas Panhandle, where the wash is liquids-rich.
How much oil and gas the Granite Wash holds
The USGS has assessed the Granite Wash and associated reservoirs as part of its Anadarko Basin Province work, which reports substantial undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and gas across the basin's Pennsylvanian and deeper section. The reported figures are undiscovered play-wide estimates, not proven reserves and not a measure of any individual property.
Source: USGS Anadarko Basin Province assessment; Oklahoma Geological Survey.
Counties in the Granite Wash play
These are the counties and parishes we cover where the Granite Wash produces. Each links to local value context and the operators active there.
What the Granite Wash 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 Granite Wash is part of the Anadarko Basin. For the basin-wide value bands and the counties we buy in, see the Anadarko Basin page.
Granite Wash questions
- What is the Granite Wash?
- The Granite Wash is a Pennsylvanian-age arkosic wash and conglomerate shed off the Amarillo-Wichita uplift along the western Anadarko Basin. It is a stacked tight-sand play that produces liquids-rich gas in Roger Mills and Ellis counties in Oklahoma and Wheeler and Hemphill counties in the Texas Panhandle.
- Is the Granite Wash an oil or a gas play?
- The Granite Wash is typically liquids-rich, producing a mix of gas, condensate, and natural gas liquids depending on location and depth. The liquids share of your production affects where your interest lands in the valuation range.
- How are Granite Wash minerals valued?
- A Granite Wash interest is valued on the income it pays, roughly 36 to 72 times your average monthly royalty check. USGS resource figures describe the whole Anadarko Basin Province, not your property. This is an estimate, subject to verification, not an offer.
Sources
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