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Methane hydrates

Gas hydrate is a solid, naturally occurring substance consisting predominantly of methane gas and water. Recent scientific drilling programs in Japan, Canada, the United States, Korea and India have demonstrated that gas hydrate occurs broadly and in a variety of forms in shallow sediments of the outer continental shelves and in Arctic regions. Field, laboratory and numerical modelling studies con
Authors
Ray Boswell, Koji Yamamoto, Sung-Rock Lee, Timothy S. Collett, Pushpendra Kumar, Scott Dallimore

Mineral deposit densities for estimating mineral resources

Estimates of numbers of mineral deposits are fundamental to assessing undiscovered mineral resources. Just as frequencies of grades and tonnages of well-explored deposits can be used to represent the grades and tonnages of undiscovered deposits, the density of deposits (deposits/area) in well-explored control areas can serve to represent the number of deposits. Empirical evidence presented here in
Authors
Donald A. Singer

Quickly erupted volcanic sections of the Steens Basalt, Columbia River Basalt Group: Secular variation, tectonic rotation, and the Steens Mountain reversal

The Steens Basalt, now considered part of the Columbia River Basalt Group (CRBG), contains the earliest eruptions of this magmatic episode. Lava flows of the Steens Basalt cover about 50,000 km2 of the Oregon Plateau in sections up to 1000 m thick. The large number of continuously exposed, quickly erupted lava flows (some sections contain over 200 flows) allows for small loops in the magnetic fiel
Authors
Nicholas A. Jarboe, Robert S. Coe, Paul R. Renne, Jonathan M. G. Glen, Edward A. Mankinen

Exploration maturity key to ranking search areas

The study area of US Geological Survey Circular 1288, the world outside the US and Canada, was partitioned into 44 countries and country groups. Map figures such as Fig. 2 and graphs similar to Figs. 3 and 4 provide a visual summary of maturity of oil and gas exploration. From 1992 through 2001, exploration data show that in the study area the delineated prospective area expanded at a rate of abou
Authors
Emil D. Attanasi, Philip A. Freeman

Volatility of bitumen prices and implications for the industry

Sustained crude oil price increases have led to increased investment in and production of Canadian bitumen to supplement North American oil supplies. For new projects, the evaluation of profitability is based on a prediction of the future price path of bitumen and ultimately light/medium crude oil. This article examines the relationship between the bitumen and light crude oil prices in the context
Authors
E.D. Attanasi

Economic decision making and the application of nonparametric prediction models

Sustained increases in energy prices have focused attention on gas resources in low-permeability shale or in coals that were previously considered economically marginal. Daily well deliverability is often relatively small, although the estimates of the total volumes of recoverable resources in these settings are often large. Planning and development decisions for extraction of such resources must
Authors
Emil D. Attanasi, Timothy C. Coburn, Philip A. Freeman

Geochemical signatures of thermochemical sulfate reduction in controlled hydrous pyrolysis experiments

A series of gold tube hydrous pyrolysis experiments was conducted in order to investigate the effect of thermochemical sulfate reduction (TSR) on gas generation, residual saturated hydrocarbon compositional alteration, and solid pyrobitumen formation. The intensity of TSR significantly depends on the H2O/MgSO4 mole ratio, the smaller the ratio, the stronger the oxidizing conditions. Under highly o
Authors
T. Zhang, G.S. Ellis, C.C. Walters, S.R. Kelemen, Kang-shi Wang, Y. Tang

Estimating pore-space gas hydrate saturations from well log acoustic data

Relating pore-space gas hydrate saturation to sonic velocity data is important for remotely estimating gas hydrate concentration in sediment. In the present study, sonic velocities of gas hydrate–bearing sands are modeled using a three-phase Biot-type theory in which sand, gas hydrate, and pore fluid form three homogeneous, interwoven frameworks. This theory is developed using well log compression
Authors
Myung W. Lee, William F. Waite

Miocene Total Petroleum System -- Lower Bakersfield Arch Assessment Unit of the San Joaquin Basin Province: Chapter 14 in Petroleum systems and geologic assessment of oil and gas in the San Joaquin Basin Province, California

The Lower Bakersfield Arch Assessment Unit (AU) of the Miocene Total Petroleum System (San Joaquin Basin Province) is primarily defined by the distribution of hydrocarbons generated from biosiliceous shale of the Monterey Formation and by the distribution of basinal-facies sandstones of the Stevens sand of Eckis (1940; hereafter referred to as Stevens sand). Traps are principally stratigraphic and
Authors
Donald L. Gautier, Allegra Hosford Scheirer

A four-dimensional petroleum systems model for the San Joaquin Basin Province, California: Chapter 12 in Petroleum systems and geologic assessment of oil and gas in the San Joaquin Basin Province, California

A calibrated numerical model depicts the geometry and three-dimensional (3-D) evolution of petroleum systems through time (4-D) in a 249 x 309 km (155 x 192 mi) area covering all of the San Joaquin Basin Province of California. Model input includes 3-D structural and stratigraphic data for key horizons and maps of unit thickness, lithology, paleobathymetry, heat flow, original total organic carbon
Authors
Kenneth E. Peters, Leslie B. Magoon, Carolyn Lampe, Allegra Hosford Scheirer, Paul G. Lillis, Donald L. Gautier

Petroleum systems of the San Joaquin Basin Province -- geochemical characteristics of gas types: Chapter 10 in Petroleum systems and geologic assessment of oil and gas in the San Joaquin Basin Province, California

The San Joaquin Basin Province is a petroliferous basin filled with predominantly Late Cretaceous to Pliocene-aged sediments, with organic-rich marine rocks of Late Cretaceous, Eocene, and Miocene age providing the source of most of the oil and gas. Previous geochemical studies have focused on the origin of the oil in the province, but the origin of the natural gas has received little attention. T
Authors
Paul G. Lillis, Augusta Warden, George E. Claypool, Leslie B. Magoon