Energy Resources Program
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The Energy Resources Program conducts research and assessments to advance the understanding of the Nation’s energy resources. We study processes critical to the formation, accumulation, occurrence and alteration of geologically based energy resources; prepare resource assessments; and evaluate the environmental and socioeconomic effects of energy resource occurrence, production and use.
Our Science
Understanding the national and global availability of resources as well as the environmental impacts of their development is essential for strategic decision making related to the nation’s energy mix.
Learn MoreThe Energy Quarterly
This quarterly newsletter highlights the latest Energy Resources Program research, activities, publications, and information resources available from our website and other sources. Read & Subscribe Today!
Current NewsletterNews
New Study Helps Wind Industry, Wildlife Managers Identify Risks to Certain Raptors from Collisions with Wind Turbines
A recent U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Oklahoma State University study shows not all raptor species are equally impacted by collisions with wind turbines. Of 14 species studied, five are at risk of population declines due to collisions.
Recent Publications: Energy Quarterly Spring 2021
Featured article in Spring 2021 Edition of the Energy Quarterly Newsletter.
Field Shots - Spring 2021
New to our newsletter: "Field Shots," turning the spotlight on past and present photographs of USGS fieldwork.
Publications
Assessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources in the eastern Mediterranean area, 2020
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 879 million barrels of conventional oil and 286.2 trillion cubic feet of conventional gas in the eastern Mediterranean area.
Schenk, Christopher J.; Mercier, Tracey J.; Finn, Thomas M.; Woodall, Cheryl A.; Marra, Kristen R.; Leathers-Miller, Heidi M.; Le, Phuong A.; Drake, Ronald M.
Insights on geochemical, isotopic, and volumetric compositions of produced water from hydraulically fractured Williston Basin oil wells
Tracing produced water origins from wells hydraulically fractured with freshwater-based fluids is sometimes predicated on assumptions that (1) each geological formation contains compositionally unique brine and (2) produced water from recently hydraulically fractured wells resembles fresher meteoric water more so than produced water from older...
Gallegos, Tanya J.; Doolan, Colin A.; Caldwell, Rodney R.; Engle, Mark A; Varonka, Matthew S.; Birdwell, Justin E.; Jolly, Glenn D.; Coplen, Tyler B.; Oliver, Thomas A.
Probabilistic methodology for the assessment of original and recoverable coal resources, illustrated with an application to a coal bed in the Fort Union Formation, Wyoming
Executive SummaryThe U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has been using its Circular 891 for evaluating uncertainty in coal resource assessments for more than 35 years. Calculated cell tonnages are assigned to four qualitative reliability classes depending exclusively on distance to the nearest drill hole. The main appeal of this methodology, simplicity...
Olea, Ricardo A.; Shaffer, Brian N.; Haacke, Jon E.; Luppens, James A.