Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Publications

Filter Total Items: 858

High-resolution seismic characterization of the gas and gas hydrate system at Green Canyon 955, Gulf of Mexico, USA

The Pliocene and Pleistocene sediments at lease block Green Canyon 955 (GC955) in the Gulf of Mexico include sand-rich strata with high saturations of gas hydrate; these gas hydrate accumulations and the associated geology have been characterized over the past decade using conventional industry three-dimensional (3D) seismic data and dedicated logging-while-drilling (LWD) borehole data. To improve
Authors
Seth S. Haines, Patrick E. Hart, Timothy S. Collett, William Shedd, Matthew Frye, Paul Weimer, Ray Boswell

U.S. Geological Survey input-data forms for the assessment of the Spraberry Formation of the Midland Basin, Permian Basin Province, Texas, 2017

In 2017, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) completed an updated assessment of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and gas resources in the Spraberry Formation of the Midland Basin (Permian Basin Province) in southwestern Texas (Marra and others, 2017). The Spraberry Formation was assessed using both the standard continuous (unconventional) and conventional methodologies established by the US
Authors
Kristen R. Marra

Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources in the Ventura Basin Province, California, 2016

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) completed a geology-based assessment of undiscovered, technically recoverable conventional and continuous oil and gas resources in the part of the Ventura Basin Province that lies onshore or within State waters (within 3 miles of the shoreline) of California (fig. 1). Conventional oil and gas resources are those that have migrated upward into structural or stratig
Authors
Marilyn E. Tennyson, Christopher J. Schenk, Janet K. Pitman, Paul G. Lillis, Timothy R. Klett, Michael E. Brownfield, Thomas M. Finn, Stephanie B. Gaswirth, Sarah J. Hawkins, Kristen R. Marra, Tracey J. Mercier, Phuong A. Le, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller

Assessing U.S. coal resources and reserves

The U.S. Coal Resources and Reserves Assessment Project, as part of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Energy Resources Program, conducts systematic, geology-based, regional assessments of significant coal beds in major coal basins in the United States. These assessments detail the quantity, quality, location, and economic potential of the Nation’s remaining coal resources and reserves and provide
Authors
Brian N. Shaffer

Assessment of continuous oil and gas resources in the Middle and Upper Magdalena Basins, Colombia, 2017

Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated mean undiscovered, technically recoverable continuous resources of 0.45 billion barrels of oil and 1.0 trillion cubic feet of gas in the Middle and Upper Magdalena Basins, Colombia.
Authors
Christopher J. Schenk, Michael E. Brownfield, Marilyn E. Tennyson, Phuong A. Le, Tracey J. Mercier, Thomas M. Finn, Sarah J. Hawkins, Stephanie B. Gaswirth, Kristen R. Marra, Timothy R. Klett, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Cheryl A. Woodall

Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources in the Lower Indus Basin, Pakistan, 2017

Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated mean undiscovered, technically recoverable resources of 164 million barrels of oil and 24.6 trillion cubic feet of gas in the Lower Indus Basin, Pakistan.
Authors
Christopher J. Schenk, Marilyn E. Tennyson, Timothy R. Klett, Thomas M. Finn, Tracey J. Mercier, Stephanie B. Gaswirth, Kristen R. Marra, Phuong A. Le, Sarah J. Hawkins, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller

East African weathering dynamics controlled by vegetation-climate feedbacks

Tropical weathering has important linkages to global biogeochemistry and landscape evolution in the East African rift. We disentangle the influences of climate and terrestrial vegetation on chemical weathering intensity and erosion at Lake Malawi using a long sediment record. Fossil pollen, microcharcoal, particle size, and mineralogy data affirm that the detrital clays accumulating in deep water
Authors
Sarah J. Ivory, Michael M. McGlue, Geoffrey S. Ellis, Adam Boehlke, Anne-Marie Lézine, Annie Vincens, Andrew S. Cohen

Extension of the analytical window for characterizing aromatic compounds in oils using a comprehensive suite of high-resolution mass spectrometry techniques and double bond equivalence versus carbon number plot

In this study, comprehensive two-dimensional (2D) gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS), atmospheric pressure photoionization (APPI) quadrupole-Orbitrap mass spectrometry (MS), and Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) were used to study the aromatic fractions of crude oil and oil shale pyrolysates (shale oils). The collected data were compared and combined
Authors
Yunju Cho, Justin E. Birdwell, Manhoi Hur, Joonhee Lee, Byungjoo Kim, Sunghwan Kim

Assessment of continuous oil and gas resources in the Neuquén Basin Province, Argentina, 2016

Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey assessed undiscovered, technically recoverable mean continuous resources of 14.4 billion barrels of oil and 38 trillion cubic feet of gas in the Neuquén Basin Province, Argentina.
Authors
Christopher J. Schenk, Timothy R. Klett, Marilyn E. Tennyson, Tracey J. Mercier, Janet K. Pitman, Stephanie B. Gaswirth, Thomas M. Finn, Michael E. Brownfield, Phuong A. Le, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Kristen R. Marra

Characterization and origin of brines from the Bakken-Three Forks petroleum system in the Williston Basin, USA

Brine (also referred to as ‘produced water’) samples were collected from 28 wells producing oil from the Late Devonian-Early Mississippian Bakken and Three Forks Formations in the Williston Basin of eastern Montana and western North Dakota. The samples were analyzed for major ions, trace metals, stable isotopes, and strontium isotopes. The brines in these formations are highly saline with total di
Authors
Zell E. Peterman, Joanna N. Thamke, Kiyoto Futa, Thomas A. Oliver

Observed correlation between the depth to base and top of gas hydrate occurrence from review of global drilling data

A global inventory of data from gas hydrate drilling expeditions is used to develop relationships between the base of structure I gas hydrate stability, top of gas hydrate occurrence, sulfate-methane transition depth, pressure (water depth), and geothermal gradients. The motivation of this study is to provide first-order estimates of the top of gas hydrate occurrence and associated thickness of th
Authors
Michael Riedel, Timothy S. Collett

Assessment of undiscovered continuous gas resources in the Amu Darya Basin Province of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Iran, and Afghanistan, 2017

Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated mean undiscovered, technically recoverable continuous resources of 35.1 trillion cubic feet of gas in the Amu Darya Basin Province of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Iran, and Afghanistan.
Authors
Christopher J. Schenk, Marilyn E. Tennyson, Tracey J. Mercier, Sarah J. Hawkins, Stephanie B. Gaswirth, Kristen R. Marra, Timothy R. Klett, Phuong A. Le, Michael E. Brownfield, Cheryl A. Woodall