Naval Petroleum Reserve #3 is located at Teapot Dome field in Natrona County, Wyoming. The structure is a typical Laramide asymmetrical drape fold, bounded on the west by a basement-involved blind thrust fault. Commercial oil production occurred in the early 1920s for a brief period, followed by a long shut-in period. NPR-3 was opened to full field development in 1976. An abundance of relatively fresh hot water (180? - 200? F) is produced in association with Pennsylvanian Tensleep oil from depths of about 5000 ft. Water supply wells drilled to the underlying Mississippian Madison Limestone yielded rates exceeding 20 MBWPD flowing at formation temperatures projected to be about 230? F.

Artesian flow of the Teapot Dome geothermal system is caused by forced convection resulting from recharge in the Big Horn Range located 90 miles NW. The Big Horn recharge area represents a hydraulic head of about 8000 vertical ft above the NPR-3 surface. Pumping could increase rates by factors in the range of two to four. The geothermal gradient of 25? F per 1000 ft of depth at NPR-3 is 9% higher than the average for the Southern Powder River Basin. Fractured Precambrian basement granitic rocks at depths of 7000 ft and more may yield large volumes of water at temperatures exceeding 250? F. Gross power potential at NPR-3 from 130 MBWPD at 220? F would be 76 MW.

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