Berea Sandstone petroleum system

Since 2011, production of sweet high gravity oil from the Upper Devonian Berea Sandstone in northeastern Kentucky has caused the region to become the leading oil producer in the state. Remarkably, Berea oil is being produced at depths of 2,200 ft or less and in an area in which the prospective source rocks—the overlying Mississippian Sunbury Shale and underlying Devonian Shale—are interpreted to be immature for oil production. Further downdip, the Berea appears to produce primarily gas in the oil window. The economic viability of Berea production is also a function of reservoir porosity and permeability.