Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Publications

Filter Total Items: 2686

Reserve growth during financial volatility in a technologically challenging world

Reserve growth (growth-to-known) is the addition of oil and gas quantities to reported proved or proved-plus-probable reserves in discovered fields. The amount of reserve growth fluctuates through time with prevailing economic and technological conditions. Most reserve additions are the result of investment in field operations and in development technology. These investments can be justified by hi
Authors
Timothy R. Klett, Donald L. Gautier

Clockwise rotation and implications for northward drift of the western Transverse Ranges from paleomagnetism of the Piuma Member, Sespe Formation, near Malibu, California

New paleomagnetic results from mid-Tertiary sedimentary beds in the Santa Monica Mountains reinforce the evidence for large-scale rotation of the western Transverse Ranges, and anisotropy measurements indicate that compaction-induced inclination flattening may resolve a long-standing controversy regarding the original paleolatitude of the rotated block. Previously published paleomagnetic data indi
Authors
John W. Hillhouse

In-Place Oil Shale Resources Underlying Federal Lands in the Piceance Basin, Western Colorado

Using a geologic-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated an in-place oil shale resource of 1.07 trillion barrels under Federal mineral rights, or 70 percent of the total oil shale in place, in the Piceance Basin, Colorado. More than 67 percent of the total oil shale in-place resource, or 1.027 trillion barrels, is under Federal surface management.
Authors
Tracey J. Mercier, Ronald C. Johnson, Michael E. Brownfield, Jesse G. Self

Preliminary Aeromagnetic Map of Joshua Tree National Park and Vicinity, Southern California

This aeromagnetic map of Joshua Tree National Park and vicinity is intended to promote further understanding of the geology and structure in the region by serving as a basis for geophysical interpretations and by supporting geological mapping, water-resource investigations, and various topical studies. Local spatial variations in the Earth's magnetic field (evident as anomalies on aeromagnetic map
Authors
V. E. Langenheim, P. L. Hill

Assessment of undiscovered natural gas resources of the Arkoma Basin province and geologically related areas

Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated mean volumes of 38 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of undiscovered natural gas, 159 million barrels of natural gas liquid (MMBNGL), and no oil in accumulations of 0.5 million barrels (MMBO) or larger in the Arkoma Basin Province and related areas. More than 97 percent of the undiscovered gas occurs in continuous accumulat
Authors
David W. Houseknecht, James L. Coleman, Robert C. Milici, Christopher P. Garrity, William A. Rouse, Bryant R. Fulk, Stanley T. Paxton, Marvin M. Abbott, John L. Mars, Troy A. Cook, Christopher J. Schenk, Ronald R. Charpentier, Timothy R. Klett, Richard M. Pollastro, Geoffrey S. Ellis

Gas, oil, and water production from Grand Valley, Parachute, Rulison, and Mamm Creek fields in the Piceance Basin, Colorado

Gas, oil, and water production data for tight gas reservoirs were compiled from selected wells in western Colorado. These reservoir rocks—the relatively shallow Paleogene Wasatch G sandstone interval in the Parachute and Rulison fields and fluvial sandstones in the deeper Upper Cretaceous Mesaverde Group in the Grand Valley, Parachute, Rulison, and Mamm Creek fields—are characterized by low permea
Authors
Philip H. Nelson, Stephen L. Santus

Petroleum Systems and Geologic Assessment of Oil and Gas in the Bighorn Basin Province, Wyoming and Montana

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) recently completed an assessment of the undiscovered oil and gas potential of the Bighorn Basin Province, which encompasses about 6.7 million acres in north-central Wyoming and southern Montana. The assessment is based on the geologic elements of each total petroleum system defined in the province, including petroleum source rocks (source-rock maturation, petroleu
Authors

Geologic map of Lake Mead and surrounding regions, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah, and northwestern Arizona

Regional stratigraphic units and structural features of the Lake Mead region are presented as a 1:250,000 scale map, and as a Geographic Information System database. The map, which was compiled from existing geologic maps of various scales, depicts geologic units, bedding and foliation attitudes, faults and folds. Units and structural features were generalized to highlight the regional stratigraph
Authors
Tracey J. Felger, Sue Beard

Coalbed methane resources of the Appalachian Basin, eastern USA

In 2002, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) assessed the technically recoverable, undiscovered coalbed-gas resources in the Appalachian basin and Black Warrior basin Assessment Provinces as about 15.5 trillion cubic feet. Although these resources are almost equally divided between the two areas, most of the production occurs within relatively small areas within these Provinces, where local geologic
Authors
Robert C. Milici, Joseph R. Hatch, Mark J. Pawlewicz

Outcrops, fossils, geophysical logs, and tectonic interpretations of the Upper Cretaceous Frontier Formation and contiguous strata in the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming and Montana

In the Bighorn Basin of north-central Wyoming and south-central Montana, the Frontier Formation of early Late Cretaceous age consists of siliciclastic, bentonitic, and carbonaceous beds that were deposited in marine, brackish-water, and continental environments. Most lithologic units are laterally discontinuous. The Frontier Formation conformably overlies the Mowry Shale and is conformably overlai
Authors
E. A. Merewether, W. A. Cobban, R. W. Tillman

Assessment of In-Place Oil Shale Resources of the Green River Formation, Uinta Basin, Utah and Colorado

Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated a total of 1.32 trillion barrels of oil in place in 18 oil shale zones in the Eocene Green River Formation in the Uinta Basin, Utah and Colorado.
Authors
Ronald C. Johnson, Tracey J. Mercier, Michael E. Brownfield, Jesse G. Self