Energy Resources Program

New to our newsletter: "Field Shots," turning the spotlight on past and present photographs of USGS fieldwork.

June is the Great Outdoors Month, a time to head outside into nature, like our scientists for their upcoming summer fieldwork. In this issue, we highlight a new assessment, recent publications, and our research in Geologic Carbon Sequestration. New to our newsletter: "Field Shots," ​highlighting past and present photographs of USGS ​ ​Energy fieldwork.

USGS provides its first estimate of conventional natural gas resources in rock formations west of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. The rock formations in this region are believed to contain no recoverable oil deposits, so no assessment was made of those resources in this study. 

We close the year with highlights of a new assessment, a new partnership for geothermal energy and critical mineral research in western Nevada, a new patent in coalbed methane research, use of remote sensing to look for critical mineral and energy potential, and much more.  Happy Holidays and a Science New Year 2021 from the Energy and Minerals Mission Area!

USGS has been a longtime sponsor of Earth Science Week founded in 1998 by the American Geosciences Institute (AGI). It is an annual international event held during the second week of October to encourage better public understanding of and appreciation for the Earth Sciences and Earth stewardship. 

Featured article in Fall 2020 Edition of the Energy Quarterly Newsletter.

The Austin Chalk and Tokio and Eutaw Formations of the Gulf Coast Basin contain a mean of 6.9 billion barrels of oil and 41.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas according to a new assessment by the U.S. Geological Survey. In comparison, the U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates that the United States used 7.5 billion barrels of petroleum products in 2019.

Far underground, in a Wyoming well-bore drilled through rock and coal, exciting research is bubbling up. USGS researchers are studying how bacteria and other microbes may play a role in the formation of natural gas from coal, and they’re using one of USGS’ newest patents to do it. This patent is the subsurface environmental sampler, or SES.

In south Texas, a wide band of rocks stretches from the Mexican border all the way to western Louisiana, forming the highly productive Eagle Ford Group. These formations, made up primarily of shale and mudstone, are some of the most prolific oil and gas-producing rocks in the United States.

Bring out your inner geologist and take the Geologist Tongue Twister Audio or Video challenge! 

First, do an audio or video recording of you reading the Tongue Twister. Second, feature a rock or mineral from your rock collection or go outside and find yourself a rock; they are everywhere!  

Be sure to hashtag your video #earthscienceweek and #...

There’s an old saying that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. At the USGS, we’re taking another look at old mine waste and tailings to see if there might still be mineral potential in them.