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Economics, Energy Resources, and Future Energy Supply Completed

By Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center December 11, 2018

Economics of U.S. Oil and Gas Resources

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Economics of Global Marginal Hydrocarbon and Non-traditional Resources

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The members of this project have prepared a number of analyses that constitute the economic components of energy resource assessments. They have also proposed enhancements to geologic assessment data and methods that make results of assessments immediately amenable to economic analysis. In addition, they apply theoretically sound valuation methodologies to assess the commercial value of currently marginal oil and gas resources, such as heavy oil, natural bitumen, stranded gas, and resources in high cost environments.

Flow Regime Changes in Hydraulically Fractured Bakken Oil Wells

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Attanasi, E.D., Coburn, T.C., and Ran-McDonald, B., 2018, Statistical detection of flow regime changes in horizontal hydraulically fractured Bakken oil wells: Natural Resources Research, pp 259-272, Vol. 28, No. 1.

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Using CO2 Prophet to estimate recovery factors for EOR

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Attanasi, E.D., 2017, Using CO2 Prophet to estimate recovery factors for carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery, chap. B of Verma, M.K., ed., Scientific Investigations Report 2017–5062, p. B1–B10.

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Economic components of undiscovered oil and gas assessments present estimates of the cost of finding, developing, producing, and transporting to market the undiscovered resources assessed by the USGS geologists:

  • The enhancement of assessment data and methods to include an economic dimension will lead to improved strategic decisions by public policymakers concerning national and international energy resources.
  • Economic assessment of marginal oil resources includes the formulation and estimation of cost functions to extract heavy oil and bitumen in known deposits and to transform those resources to high value transportation fuels
  • Economic assessment of stranded gas provides estimates of the cost of developing, producing, and transporting to market remote natural gas in known fields

Below are other science projects associated with this project.

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Economics of Energy Transitions Task 4 Representation Image

Economics of Energy Transitions

This task conducts research to characterize or evaluate the economics of developing technologies or markets in geologic resources. Such research can analyze the relative risks, costs, and benefits from the utilization and not just the extraction of underground resource. Economic analysis builds upon the geologic resource assessment work by other tasks in the Utilization of Carbon and other Energy...
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Energy Resources Program, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center
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Economics of Energy Transitions

This task conducts research to characterize or evaluate the economics of developing technologies or markets in geologic resources. Such research can analyze the relative risks, costs, and benefits from the utilization and not just the extraction of underground resource. Economic analysis builds upon the geologic resource assessment work by other tasks in the Utilization of Carbon and other Energy...
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Economics of Global Marginal Hydrocarbon and Non-traditional Resources

During the last decade many producing countries have reassigned conventional oil and gas development rights to their national oil companies (NOCs). In fact the 13 largest energy companies, when measured by oil and gas reserves, are controlled by sovereign governments. The result is that the NOC’s will control a significant share of future oil and gas production. The international oil companies...
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Energy Resources Program, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center
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Economics of Global Marginal Hydrocarbon and Non-traditional Resources

During the last decade many producing countries have reassigned conventional oil and gas development rights to their national oil companies (NOCs). In fact the 13 largest energy companies, when measured by oil and gas reserves, are controlled by sovereign governments. The result is that the NOC’s will control a significant share of future oil and gas production. The international oil companies...
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Economics of US Oil and Gas Resources Task2 Representation Thumb

Economics of U.S. Oil and Gas Resources

The U.S. Geological Survey prepares geologic assessments of undiscovered and undeveloped (identified) oil and gas resources (see National Oil and Gas Assessment website). In addition to our USGS oil and gas geologic assessments, economic research gives policymakers and analysts in the private sector additional information by scaling economic variables. Economic attributes must include the costs of...
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Energy Resources Program, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center
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Economics of U.S. Oil and Gas Resources

The U.S. Geological Survey prepares geologic assessments of undiscovered and undeveloped (identified) oil and gas resources (see National Oil and Gas Assessment website). In addition to our USGS oil and gas geologic assessments, economic research gives policymakers and analysts in the private sector additional information by scaling economic variables. Economic attributes must include the costs of...
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Below are publications associated with this project.

Filter Total Items: 56

Well predictive performance of play-wide and Subarea Random Forest models for Bakken productivity

In recent years, geologists and petroleum engineers have struggled to clearly identify the mechanisms that drive productivity in horizontal, hydraulically-fractured oil wells producing from the middle member of the Bakken formation. This paper fills a gap in the literature by showing how this play’s heterogeneity affects factors that drive well productivity. It is important because understanding t
Authors
Emil D. Attanasi, Philip A. Freeman, Tim Coburn
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Energy Resources Program, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center

Estimating market conditions for potential entry of new sources of anthropogenic CO2 for EOR in the Permian Basin

This study attempts to determine feasible carbon dioxide (CO2) price thresholds for entry of new sources of anthropogenic (man-made) CO2 for utilization in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) in the Permian Basin. Much of the discussion about carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) has focused on the high costs of carbon capture as the major barrier to entry of new anthropogenic sources of CO2 for
Authors
Steven T. Anderson, Steven M. Cahan
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Energy Resources Program, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center

Growth drivers of Bakken oil well productivity

This paper identifies the drivers of the phenomenal growth in productivity in hydraulically fractured horizontal oil wells producing from the middle member of the Bakken Formation in North Dakota. The data show a strong underlying spatial component and somewhat weaker temporal component. Drivers of the spatial component are favorable reservoir conditions. The temporal component of well productiv
Authors
Emil D. Attanasi, Philip A. Freeman
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Energy Resources Program, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center

Improving pressure-limited CO2 storage capacity in saline formations by means of brine extraction

The carbon dioxide (CO2) storage capacity of saline formations may be constrained by reservoir pressure limitations. Brine extraction could be necessary to increase the CO2 storage capacity of a given formation, manage the extent of the underground CO2 plume and induced pressure front, and control the migration direction. To estimate the additional CO2 storage capacity of a saline formation that c
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Hossein Jahediesfanjani, Steven T. Anderson, Peter D. Warwick
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Energy Resources Program, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center

Statistics of petroleum exploration in the world outside the United States and Canada through 2015

The world’s future oil and gas supplies depend on existing reserves and the additions to those reserves that may result, in part, from ongoing exploration and new discoveries. This Circular summarizes available oil and gas exploration data for the world outside the United States and Canada (the study area) through 2015. It updates U.S. Geological Survey Circulars 981, 1096, and 1288 (by D.H. Root,
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Emil D. Attanasi, Philip A. Freeman
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Energy Resources Program, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center

Estimating the pressure-limited dynamic capacity and costs of basin-scale CO2 storage in a Saline Formation

Deployment of carbon capture and storage (CCS) could be necessary to be able to satisfy baseload electricity demand, maintain diversity in the energy mix, and achieve mitigation of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions at lowest cost (IPCC, 2015; U.S. DOE, 2016). If basin-, regional- or national-scale deployment of CCS is needed, it may be possible to store only a small fraction of the captured CO2 in oi
Authors
Steven T. Anderson, Hossein Jahediesfanjani
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Energy Resources Program, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center

Statistical detection of flow regime changes in horizontal hydraulically fractured Bakken oil wells

The application of horizontal and hydraulically fractured wells for producing oil from low permeability formations has changed the face of the North American oil industry. One feature of the production profile of many such wells is a transition from transient linear oil flow to boundary-dominated flow. The identification of the time of this transition is important for the calibration of models tha
Authors
Emil D. Attanasi, T.C. Coburn, B. Ran-McDonald
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Energy Resources Program, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center

Estimating the pressure-limited CO2 injection and storage capacity of the United States saline formations: Effect of the presence of hydrocarbon reservoirs

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) national assessment of carbon dioxide (CO2) storage capacity evaluated 192 saline Storage Assessment Units (SAUs) in 33 U.S. onshore sedimentary basins that may be utilized for CO2 storage (see USGS Circular 1386). Similar to many other available models, volumetric analysis was utilized to estimate the initial CO2injection and storage capacity of these SAUs based
Authors
Hossein Jahediesfanjani, Peter D. Warwick, Steven T. Anderson
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Energy Resources Program, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center

Economics, helium, and the U.S. Federal Helium Reserve: Summary and outlook

In 2017, disruptions in the global supply of helium reminded consumers, distributors, and policy makers that the global helium supply chain lacks flexibility, and that attempts to increase production from the U.S. Federal Helium Reserve (the FHR) may not be able to compensate for the loss of one of the few major producers in the world. Issues with U.S. and global markets for helium include inelast
Authors
Steven T. Anderson
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Energy Resources Program, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center, Central Energy Resources Science Center

Case study - Dynamic pressure-limited capacity and costs of CO2 storage in the Mount Simon sandstone

Widespread deployment of carbon capture and storage (CCS) is likely necessary to be able to satisfy baseload electricity demand, to maintain diversity in the energy mix, and to achieve climate and other objectives at the lowest cost. If all of the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from stationary sources (such as fossil-fuel burning power plants, and other industrial plants) in the United States need
Authors
Steven T. Anderson, Hossein Jahediesfanjani
By
Energy Resources Program, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center

Using CO2 Prophet to estimate recovery factors for carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery

IntroductionThe Oil and Gas Journal’s enhanced oil recovery (EOR) survey for 2014 (Koottungal, 2014) showed that gas injection is the most frequently applied method of EOR in the United States and that carbon dioxide (CO2 ) is the most commonly used injection fluid for miscible operations. The CO2-EOR process typically follows primary and secondary (waterflood) phases of oil reservoir development.
Authors
Emil D. Attanasi
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Energy Resources Program, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center

Cost implications of uncertainty in CO2 storage resource estimates: A review

Carbon capture from stationary sources and geologic storage of carbon dioxide (CO2) is an important option to include in strategies to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. However, the potential costs of commercial-scale CO2 storage are not well constrained, stemming from the inherent uncertainty in storage resource estimates coupled with a lack of detailed estimates of the infrastructure needed to
Authors
Steven T. Anderson
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Energy Resources Program, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center

Below are news stories associated with this project.

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Making Minerals-How Growing Rocks Can Help Reduce Carbon Emissions

Following an assessment of geologic carbon storage potential in sedimentary rocks, the USGS has published a comprehensive review of potential carbon...

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