Central Energy Resources Science Center
Publications
Kinetics of elemental sulfur reduction by petroleum hydrocarbons and the implications for hydrocarbon thermal chemical alteration
Although sulfur-containing compounds are known to play a significant role in the diagenic and catagenic processes that generate oil and gas, relatively little is known about the kinetics of reactions between elemental S and petroleum hydrocarbons. To investigate this subject, a series of closed-system pyrolysis experiments using paraffin, a low-...
Ellis, Geoffrey S.; Zhang, Tongwei; Kralert, Paul G.; Tang, Yongchun
Stratigraphic cross sections of the Niobrara Interval of the Upper Cretaceous Cody Shale in the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming and Montana
The Bighorn Basin is one of many structural and sedimentary basins that formed in the Rocky Mountain foreland during the Laramide orogeny. The basin is nearly 180 miles long, 100 miles wide, and encompasses about 10,400 square miles in northern Wyoming and southern Montana. The basin is bounded by major basement uplifts that include the Pryor...
Finn, Thomas M.
Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources in the South Florida basin, 2016
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated mean undiscovered, technically recoverable resources of 49 million barrels of oil and 18 billion cubic feet of gas in the onshore and State waters part of the South Florida basin.
Roberts-Ashby, Tina L.; Hackley, Paul C.; Lohr, Celeste D.; Schenk, Christopher J.; Mercier, Tracey J.; Whidden, Katherine J.; Le, Phuong A.; Tennyson, Marilyn E.; Gaswirth, Stephanie B.; Woodall, Cheryl A.; Brownfield, Michael E.; Leathers-Miller, Heidi M.; Marra, Kristen R.; Finn, Thomas M.
Assessment of continuous oil and gas resources in the Duvernay Formation, Alberta Basin Province, Canada, 2018
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 1.3 billion barrels of oil and 22.2 trillion cubic feet of gas in the Duvernay Formation of the Alberta Basin Province, Canada.
Schenk, Christopher J.; Mercier, Tracey J.; Tennyson, Marilyn E.; Le, Phuong A.; Brownfield, Michael E.; Marra, Kristen R.; Gaswirth, Stephanie B.; Leathers-Miller, Heidi M.; Drake, Ronald M.
Assessment of continuous gas resources in the Montney and Doig Formations, Alberta Basin Province, Canada, 2018
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 47.6 trillion cubic feet of gas and 2.2 billion barrels of natural gas liquids in the Montney and Doig Formations of the Alberta Basin Province in Canada.
Schenk, Christopher J.; Mercier, Tracey J.; Tennyson, Marilyn E.; Finn, Thomas M.; Woodall, Cheryl A.; Le, Phuong A.; Brownfield, Michael E.; Marra, Kristen R.; Leathers-Miller, Heidi M. Investigation into the effect of heteroatom content on kerogen structure using advanced 13C solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy
To elucidate how different extreme heteroatom concentrations in oil shale kerogen may present and contribute to various structural features, three shale samples, containing kerogen with high oxygen content, low heteroatom content, and high sulfur content, were analyzed using advanced 13C solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques...
Chu, Wenying; Cao, Xiaoyan; Schmidt-Rohr, Klaus; Birdwell, Justin E.; Mao, Jingdong Controls on organic matter distributions in Eocene Lake Uinta, Utah and Colorado
The Green River Formation deposited in Eocene Lake Uinta in the Uinta and Piceance Basins, Utah and Colorado, contains the largest oil shale resource in the world with an estimated 1.53 trillion barrels of oil in-place in the Piceance Basin and 1.32 trillion barrels in the Uinta Basin. The Douglas Creek arch, a slowly subsiding hinge-line between...
Johnson, Ronald C.; Mercier, Tracey J.; Birdwell, Justin E. Shear-wave seismic reflection studies of unconsolidated sediments in the near surface
We have successfully applied of SH-wave seismic reflection methods to two different near-surface problems targeting unconsolidated sediments. At the former Fort Ord, where the water table is approximately 30m deep, we imaged aeolian and marine aquifer and aquitard stratigraphy to a depth of approximately 80m. We identified reflections from sand/...
Ellefsen, Karl J.; Haines, Seth S. Correlation of the Tuscaloosa marine shale in Mississippi, Louisiana, and east Texas, U.S.A.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) completed an assessment of undiscovered, technically recoverable unconventional petroleum resources in the Upper Cretaceous marine shale of the Tuscaloosa Group (Tuscaloosa marine shale; TMS) in 2018. As part of the geologic characterization in preparation for the assessment, a series of wireline log cross...
Rouse, William A.; Enomoto, Catherine B.; Gianoutsos, Nicholas J.
Assessment of continuous oil and gas resources in the Niobrara interval of the Cody Shale, Wind River Basin Province, Wyoming, 2018
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated means of 389 million barrels of oil and 1.8 trillion cubic feet of gas in the Niobrara interval of the Cody Shale in the Wind River Basin Province, Wyoming.
Finn, Thomas M.; Schenk, Christopher J.; Mercier, Tracey J.; Tennyson, Marilyn E.; Le, Phuong A.; Brownfield, Michael E.; Marra, Kristen R.; Leathers-Miller, Heidi M.; Drake, Ronald M.; Woodall, Cheryl A.; Kinney, Scott A.
Assessment of undiscovered continuous oil and gas resources in the Wolfcamp Shale and Bone Spring Formation of the Delaware Basin, Permian Basin Province, New Mexico and Texas, 2018
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey assessed undiscovered, technically recoverable continuous mean resources of 46.3 billion barrels of oil and 281 trillion cubic feet of gas in the Wolfcamp shale and Bone Spring Formation of the Delaware Basin in the Permian Basin Province, southeast New Mexico and west Texas.
Gaswirth, Stephanie B.; French, Katherine L.; Pitman, Janet K.; Marra, Kristen R.; Mercier, Tracey J.; Leathers-Miller, Heidi M.; Schenk, Christopher J.; Tennyson, Marilyn E.; Woodall, Cheryl A.; Brownfield, Michael E.; Finn, Thomas M.; Le, Phuong A.
Descriptive models for epithermal gold-silver deposits: Chapter Q in Mineral deposit models for resource assessment
Epithermal gold-silver deposits are vein, stockwork, disseminated, and replacement deposits that are mined primarily for their gold and silver contents; some deposits also contain substantial resources of lead, zinc, copper, and (or) mercury. These deposits form in the uppermost parts of the crust, at depths less than about 1,500 meters below the...
John, David A.; Vikre, Peter G.; du Bray, Edward A.; Blakely, Richard J.; Fey, David L.; Rockwell, Barnaby W.; Mauk, Jeffrey L.; Anderson, Eric D.; Graybeal, Frederick T.