Wyoming Thrust Belt

Commentary

The WTBB remains largely overlooked in favour of easier basins, and undiscovered accumulations are generally small. Federal policy now supports leasing on federal land, removing a key previous concern. Outlook: Neutral.

Updated

October 1, 2026

Location

Description

The WTBB forms part of the Wyoming-Idaho-Utah thrust belt, where Palaeozoic and Mesozoic strata deposited along the western margin of the Wyoming craton were detached above the Archaean basement and transported eastward on shallow, west-dipping ('thin-skinned') thrust faults during latest Jurassic to Late Cretaceous compression. Traps are principally long, narrow ramp anticlines in the hanging walls of the major thrusts. The aeolian Triassic–Jurassic Nugget Sandstone is the most prolific reservoir, having produced over 288mm bbl of oil and 5.1tcf of gas, with hydrocarbons generated mainly from subthrust Cretaceous source rocks; the Permian Phosphoria Formation is also a source and has been assessed by the USGS for continuous gas.

Summary

The basin has been widely explored, but modern exploration technology still produces commercial accumulations. While undiscovered sizes are generally small, the availability of infrastructure makes the commerciality threshold relatively low.