Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Capabilities

By Petroleum Geochemistry Research Laboratory

The Petroleum Geochemistry Research Laboratory (PGRL) provides analytical capabilities and technical expertise in support of research and assessment projects within the USGS Energy Resource Program with a commitment to the provision of quality petroleum organic geochemistry and mineralogy data. PGRL is also active in the development and distribution of shale and natural gas reference materials.

To access our Geochemistry Database which contains the analytical data for over 200,000 samples, please click here.

Please click on an analysis listed below to see a PDF of the analytical method for that analysis.  

 

Analyses Performed
Requested Analysis Most Common Sample Types
(note if different)		 Container Type Amount
of Sample		 Comments
API Gravity Oil  Glass 10 mg  
Fractionation  Oil or Rock Extract Glass 100 mg  
FTIR Rock or Oil Glass 1 mg  
GCFID_Arom Aromatic Fraction Glass NA  
GCFID_Sat Saturate Fraction Glass NA  
GCFID_WhOil Oil or Rock Extract Glass 10 mg  
Isotope_C Oil, Oil Fraction, Solids Glass for oil or oil fractions,
various for solid samples		 10 mg for oil and oil
fractions, variables for 
solids		  
Isotope_C Natural Gas Isotube or stainless steel
cylinder		 50 psi samples must have minimally
>2 mol% of compound(s) for analysis
Isotope_HD Natural Gas Isotube or stainless steel cylinder 50 psi samples must have >10 mol% C1 for analysis
MSD_BIOM_SAT  Saturate Fraction Glass 50 mg  
MSD_BIOM_ARO Aromatic Fraction Glass 50 mg  
Outside Lab Analysis* Variable Variable Variable contact prior to submittal
Programmed Pyrolysis Solid Variable 10 g please grind to ~60 mesh, or request sample prep on the sample submittal form
Sample Prep** Variable Variable Variable variable
SEM*** Solid Variable   contact prior to submittal
Total Carbon Solid Variable 10 g please grind to ~60 mesh, or request sample prep on the sample submittal form
Total Organic Carbon (TOC) Solid Variable 10 g please grind to ~60 mesh, or request sample prep on the sample submittal form
XRD Solid Variable 5 g please grind to ~60 mesh, or request sample prep on the sample submittal form

*In-house method not available, samples sent to outside lab
**Includes various techniques (the following is an incomplete list: crushing and sawing)
***SEM Analysis requires Mineralogy lab manager approval prior to acceptance (aboehlke@usgs.gov)

 

Sample Submittal Procedure

Please clearly identify sample names on sample containers before submission 

The login form is an excel spread sheet with macros that populate the drop-down list. 
For submitting samples, fill out login form (available for download below) with required information: submitter information, analysis requested (Must be English language), Field Id, Sample Type, Lat/Long Qualifier, Lat/Long, and units.  All other information, like depth, should be filled in where possible. 

Sample Login Form Ver. 2.1

Items with a drop-down list must be selected. 

Naming convention for file should be last name, underscore, and a unique identifer (Example: Smith_Anadarko1)

Send login form to energylabs@usgs.gov
Please send a packing list detailing the unique names for the samples in the  box with the samples.

Send samples to:
U.S. Geological Survey 
Attn: PGRL
One Denver Federal Center
Building 810, Entrance E-11, MS 977
Denver, CO 80225

or if you are located on the DFC you can bring the samples to Bldg. 20, A-wing.

Once samples arrive they will be matched up and checked against the login form for accuracy.  If there are any discrepancies or questions you will be contacted before the samples are logged in. 

Confirmation of login will be sent to submitter via email. 

The submitter must verify all information is correct.  If it is not, send email to energylabs@usgs.gov with a detailed description of what is wrong.

Please send all sample login and lab-related questions to energylabs@usgs.gov