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Economics of U.S. Oil and Gas Resources Completed

By Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center November 16, 2018

Estimating Recovery Factors

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 finding, developing, and producing undiscovered and undeveloped resources for both conventional and unconventional oil and gas occurrences. This research activity provides for the economic analysis of selected USGS energy resource geologic assessments so that government policymakers and industry decision makers have information on what part of the resource is commercial and, if currently produced, how long production can be sustained. Another thrust of this ongoing research is to propose enhancements in assessment methods that would permit more transparency in the economic analysis of the assessed resource.

Low Cost Development Strategy of Incremental Oil in Legacy Reservoirs

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SPE/IAEE Hydrocarbon Economics and Evaluation Symposium, 17-18 May, Houston, Texas, USA.

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Flow Regime Changes in Hydraulically Fractured Bakken Oil Wells

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Natural Resources Research, pp 259-272, Vol. 28, No. 1.

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Below are other science projects associated with this project task.

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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, Energy Resources, and Future Energy Supply

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...
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Energy Resources Program, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center
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Economics, Energy Resources, and Future Energy Supply

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...
Learn More
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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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Below are publications associated with this project task.

Filter Total Items: 33

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
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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
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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
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Emil D. Attanasi, Philip A. Freeman
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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
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Emil D. Attanasi, T.C. Coburn, B. Ran-McDonald
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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

Bitumen prices and structural changes in North American crude oil markets

In an earlier report, changes in bitumen prices at Hardesty, Alberta, Canada, were modeled as the responses to changes in monthly prices of Hardesty light/medium crude oil for the period 2000–2006 with a simple error correction econometric model. This note re-examines that price relationship for the period 2009–2014. Over the period 2006–2014, there was also rapid growth in North American light oi
Authors
Emil D. Attanasi
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Energy Resources Program, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center

Play-level distributions of estimates of recovery factors for a miscible carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery method used in oil reservoirs in the conterminous United States

In a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) study, recovery-factor estimates were calculated by using a publicly available reservoir simulator (CO2 Prophet) to estimate how much oil might be recovered with the application of a miscible carbon dioxide (CO2) enhanced oil recovery (EOR) method to technically screened oil reservoirs located in onshore and State offshore areas in the conterminous United States.
Authors
E. D. Attanasi, P.A. Freeman
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Energy Resources Program, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center

A strategy for low cost development of incremental oil in legacy reservoirs

The precipitous decline in oil prices during 2015 has forced operators to search for ways to develop low-cost and low-risk oil reserves. This study examines strategies to low cost development of legacy reservoirs, particularly those which have already implemented a carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery (CO2 EOR) program. Initially the study examines the occurrence and nature of the distribution of
Authors
E. D. Attanasi
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Energy Resources Program, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center

Profiles of reservoir properties of oil-bearing plays for selected petroleum provinces in the United States

Profiles of reservoir properties of oil-bearing plays for selected petroleum provinces in the United States were developed to characterize the database to be used for a potential assessment by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) of oil that would be technically recoverable by the application of enhanced oil recovery methods using injection of carbon dioxide (CO2-EOR). The USGS assessment methodology
Authors
Philip A. Freeman, Emil D. Attanasi
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Energy Resources Program, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center

Evaluation of development options for Alaska North Slope viscous and heavy oil

Current estimates of discovered viscous and heavy oil in Alaska’s North Slope are 12 billion barrels of oil-in-place and 12–18 billion barrels of oil-in-place, respectively (see Appendix 1 for conversion to SI units). Since the early 1990s to the end of 2010, cumulative viscous oil production has amounted to 150 million barrels, and there has been no commercial production of heavy oil. During the
Authors
Emil D. Attanasi, Philip A. Freeman
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Energy Resources Program, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center

Commercial possibilities for stranded conventional gas from Alaska's North Slope

Stranded gas resources are defined for this study as gas resources in discrete accumulations that are not currently commercially producible, or producible at full potential, for either physical or economic reasons. Approximately 35 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of stranded gas was identified on Alaska’s North Slope. The commercialization of this resource requires facilities to transport gas to markets
Authors
E. D. Attanasi, P.A. Freeman
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Energy Resources Program, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center

Assessment of potential additions to conventional oil and gas resources in discovered fields of the United States from reserve growth, 2012

The U.S. Geological Survey estimated volumes of technically recoverable, conventional petroleum resources that have the potential to be added to reserves from reserve growth in 70 discovered oil and gas accumulations of the United States, excluding Federal offshore areas. The mean estimated volumes are 32 billion barrels of crude oil, 291 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, and 10 billion barrels
Authors
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Energy Resources Program, Central Energy Resources Science Center

Below are news stories associated with this project task.

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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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