Energy Resources Program
Publications
Mineralogy and lithology of the Upper Cretaceous Niobrara Formation determined by hyperspectral core imaging
Sections of the Upper Cretaceous (Coniacian to Campanian) Niobrara Formation in two cores from Kansas and Colorado, the Amoco Rebecca Bounds and USGS Portland 1, respectively, were examined by hyperspectral core imaging and analysis. A spectral imaging system combining high-resolution photography (50 μm), 3D laser profiling (20 μm), and near-...
Birdwell, Justin E.; Fontenot, Lionel C.; Martini, Brigette A two-stage step-wise framework for fast optimization of well placement in coalbed methane reservoirs
Coalbed methane (CBM) has emerged as a clean energy resource in the global energy mix, especially in countries such as Australia, China, India and the USA. The economical and successful development of CBM requires a thorough evaluation and optimization of well placement prior to field-scale exploitation. This paper presents a two-stage, step-wise...
Zhang, Jiyuan; Feng, Qihong; Zhang, Xianmin; Bai, Jia; Karacan, C. Özgen; Elsworth, Derek
Assessment of continuous oil and gas resources in Lower Silurian Shales of the Arabian Peninsula, 2019
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 4.6 billion barrels of oil and 561 trillion cubic feet of gas in the Lower Silurian Shale Total Petroleum System of the Arabian Peninsula.
Schenk, Christopher J.; Mercier, Tracey J.; Woodall, Cheryl A.; Tennyson, Marilyn E.; Finn, Thomas M.; Brownfield, Michael E.; Marra, Kristen R.; Le, Phuong A.; Drake, Ronald M.; Kinney, Scott A. Sample mounting for organic petrology: No thermal effects from transient exposure to elevated temperatures
For sample mounting, organic petrology laboratories typically use cold-setting epoxy-resin (e.g., 40 °C, used by Oklahoma Geological Survey, OGS) or heat-setting thermoplastic (e.g., 180 °C, used by U.S. Geological Survey, USGS). Previous workers have suggested a systematic huminite/vitrinite reflectance (VRo) increase was associated with the...
Hackley, Paul C.; Cardott, Brian J. Fluorescence spectroscopy of ancient sedimentary organic matter via confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM)
Fluorescence spectroscopy via confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) was used to analyze ancient sedimentary organic matter, including Tasmanites microfossils in Devonian shale and Gloecapsomorpha prisca (G. prisca) in Ordovician kukersite from North American basins. We examined fluorescence emission as a function of...
Hackley, Paul C.; Jubb, Aaron M.; Burruss, Robert; Beaven, Amy E
Assessment of tight-gas resources in the Grand Erg/Ahnet Province of Algeria, 2019
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 30.5 trillion cubic feet of tight gas in the Grand Erg/Ahnet Province of Algeria.
Brownfield, Michael E.; Schenk, Christopher J.; Mercier, Tracey J.; Tennyson, Marilyn E.; Woodall, Cheryl A.; Finn, Thomas M.; Le, Phuong A.; Pitman, Janet K.; Drake, Ronald M.; Gaswirth, Stephanie B.; Leathers-Miller, Heidi M. 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...
Attanasi, Emil D.; Freeman, Philip A.; Coburn, Tim Surface to subsurface correlation of the Middle-Upper Triassic Shublik Formation within a revised sequence stratigraphic framework
Recent work on cores and outcrops of the Middle-Upper Triassic Shublik Formation has facilitated surface to subsurface correlation of depositional sequences across the Alaska North Slope. Five transgressive-regressive depositional sequences have been defined within three large-scale stratigraphic units. Outcrop spectral gamma-ray (GR) profiles...
Rouse, William A.; Whidden, Katherine J.; Dumoulin, Julie A.; Houseknecht, David W. Characterization of feed coals and coal combustion byproducts from the Wyodak-Anderson coal zone, Powder River Basin, Wyoming
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) determined the physical and chemical properties of more than 260 feed coal and coal combustion byproducts from two coal-fired power plants. These plants utilized a low-sulfur (0.23-0.47 wt. % S) and low ash (4.9-6.3 wt. % ash) subbituminous coal from the Wyodak-Anderson coal zone in the Tongue River Member of the...
Brownfield, Michael E. Methodology for estimating the prospective CO2 storage resource of residual oil zones at the national and regional scale
Residual oil zones (ROZs) are increasingly gaining interest as potential reservoirs for carbon dioxide (CO2) storage. Here, we present a national- and regional-scale methodology for estimating prospective CO2 storage resources in residual oil zones. This methodology uses a volumetric equation that accounts for CO2 storage as a free phase...
Sanguinito, Sean; Singh, Harpreet; Myshakin, Evgeniy M.; Goodman, Angela L.; Dilmore, Robert M.; Grant, Timothy C.; Morgan, David; Bromhal, Grant; Warwick, Peter D.; Brennan, Sean T.; Freeman, Philip A.; Karacan, C. Özgen; Gorecki, Charles; Peck, Wesley; Burton-Kelly, Matthew; Dotzenrod, Neil; Frailey, Scott; Pawar, Rajesh Organic compounds in produced waters from the Bakken Formation and Three Forks Formation in the Williston Basin, North Dakota
The organic composition of produced waters (flowback and formation waters) from the middle member of the Bakken Formation and the Three Forks Formation in the Williston Basin, North Dakota were examined to aid in the remediation of surface contamination and help develop treatment methods for produced-water recycling. Twelve produced water samples...
Varonka, Matthew S.; Gallegos, Tanya; Bates, Anne L.; Doolan, Colin A.; Orem, William H.
Geology and assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources of the Sverdrup Basin Province, Arctic Canada, 2008
The Sverdrup Basin Province, an area of 515,000 square kilometers on the northern margin of North America, extends 1,300 kilometers across the Canadian Arctic Islands from near the Mackenzie Delta to northern Ellesmere Island. It consists of an intracratonic late Paleozoic to early Cenozoic rift-sag basin and a Mesozoic rift shoulder that bounds...
Moore, Thomas E.; Gautier, Donald L.; Tennyson, Marilyn E.; Pitman, Janet K.