Publications

In 1995, U.S. Geological Survey made the first systematic assessment of the volume of natural gas stored in the hydrate accumulations of the United States. That study, along with numerous other studies, has shown that the amount of gas stored as methane hydrates in the world greatly exceeds the volume of known conventional gas resources. However, gas hydrates represent both a scientific and techni

This report provides information pertaining to the 2012 U.S. Geological Survey assessment of undiscovered, technically recoverable conventional oil and gas resources of the world, exclusive of the United States. Some of the results were previously published, mostly in USGS fact sheet series.

Executive SummaryThe economy, national security, and standard of living of the United States depend heavily on adequate and reliable supplies of energy and mineral resources. Based on population and consumption trends, the Nation’s use of energy and minerals can be expected to grow, driving the demand for ever broader scientific understanding of resource formation, location, and availability. In a

The presence of strong surface-wave noise in surface microseismic data may decrease the utility of these data. We implement a technique, based on the distinct characteristics that microseismic signal and noise show in the τ‐p domain, to suppress surface-wave noise in microseismic data. Because most microseismic source mechanisms are deviatoric, preprocessing is necessary to correct for the nonunif

Seismic refraction methods are used in environmental and engineering studies to image the shallow subsurface. We present a blind test of inversion and tomographic refraction analysis methods using a synthetic first-arrival-time dataset that was made available to the community in 2010. The data are realistic in terms of the near-surface velocity model, shot-receiver geometry and the data's frequenc

The petroleum system concept was first applied in 1974 (Dow/Williams) to identify three oil systems in the Williston Basin, and recent studies have expanded the number to at least nine. This paper reviews the petroleum geochemistry, oil-oil, and oil-source correlations of the oil systems of the Williston Basin, providing a new perspective and some new findings. Petroleum systems with a known sourc

This study updates a stratigraphic cross section published as plate 2 in Kirschbaum and Hettinger (2004) Digital Data Series 69-G (http://pubs.usgs.gov/dds/dds-069/dds-069-g/). The datum is a marine/tidal ravinement surface within the Cozzette Sandstone Member of the Iles Formation and the Thompson Canyon Sandstone and Sulphur Canyon Sandstone Beds of the Neslen Formation. One of the cores shown w

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has created a comprehensive geopressure-gradient model of the regional pressure system spanning the onshore and offshore portions of the Gulf of Mexico, USA. The model was used to generate ten maps: five contour maps (Maps 1A - 5A) characterize the depth to the surface defined by the first occurrence of isopressure-gradients ranging from 0.60 psi/ft to 1.00 psi/ft

Characterization of the regional pressure system in the Gulf of Mexico basin is critical for assessing the occurrence of undiscovered petroleum resources, evaluating areas with potential pressure-related production, identifying potential pressure-related geohazard issues, evaluating hydrocarbon reservoir-seal integrity, and determining the feasibility of geological sequestration and long-term cont

The Upper Cretaceous Austin Chalk forms a low-permeability, onshore Gulf of Mexico reservoir that produces oil and gas from major fractures oriented parallel to the underlying Lower Cretaceous shelf edge. Horizontal drilling links these fracture systems to create an interconnected network that drains the reservoir. Field and well locations along the production trend are controlled by fracture netw

The Bighorn Basin is a large Laramide (Late Cretaceous through Eocene) structural and sedimentary basin that encompasses about 10,400 square miles in north-central Wyoming and south-central Montana. The purpose of this report is to present new vitrinite reflectance data collected from Cretaceous marine shales and coals in the Bighorn Basin to better characterize the thermal maturity and petroleum

We introduce a passive noise suppression technique, based on the τ − p transform. In the τ − p domain, one can separate microseismic events from surface noise based on distinct characteristics that are not visible in the time-offset domain. By applying the inverse τ − p transform to the separated microseismic event, we suppress the surface noise in the data. Our technique significantly improves th