What are "technically recoverable" oil and gas resources?
“Technically recoverable” means that the oil and/or gas can be produced using currently available technology and industry practices. This is regardless of any economic or accessibility considerations.
For example, the technology required to produce oil from a location might exist, but it costs more than the oil is worth. The oil is still technically recoverable.
Learn more: USGS Energy Assessments
Related Content
What are the oil reserves in the Bakken Formation?
How much oil and gas are actually in the Bakken Formation?
What are some of the difficulties of drilling in the Bakken Formation?
How much oil does the Bakken Formation produce and how does this compare to what the United States uses?
Does the Bakken Formation contain more oil than Saudi Arabia?
What are the environmental considerations of drilling for oil?
Geology and assessment of the undiscovered, technically recoverable petroleum resources of Armenia, 2013
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) assessed the undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and gas resources of Armenia in 2013. A Paleozoic and a Cenozoic total petroleum system (TPS) were identified within the country of Armenia. The postulated petroleum system elements are uncertain, resulting in low geologic probabilities for significant oil an...
Klett, T.R.
Assessment of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and gas resources of Armenia, 2014
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated mean volumes of 1 million barrels of undiscovered, technically recoverable conventional oil and 6 billion cubic feet of undiscovered, technically recoverable conventional natural gas in Armenia.
Klett, Timothy R.; Schenk, Christopher J.; Wandrey, Craig J.; Brownfield, Michael E.; Charpentier, Ronald R.; Tennyson, Marilyn E.; Gautier, Donald L.
Assessment of undiscovered technically recoverable oil and gas resources of Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rico-U.S. Virgin Islands Exclusive Economic Zone, 2013
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated means of 19 million barrels of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and 244 billion cubic feet of undiscovered natural gas in the Puerto Rico–U.S. Virgin Islands Exclusive Economic Zone.
Schenk, Christopher J.; Charpentier, Ronald R.; Klett, Timothy R.; Gaswirth, Stephanie B.; Pitman, Janet K.; Brownfield, Michael E.; Mercier, Tracey J.; Wandrey, Craig J.; Weaver, Jean N.
Assessment of Undiscovered Technically Recoverable Oil and Gas Resources of the Bakken Formation, Williston Basin, Montana and North Dakota, 2008
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has completed an assessment of the undiscovered oil and associated gas resources of the Upper Devonian to Lower Mississippian Bakken Formation in the U.S. portion of the Williston Basin of Montana and North Dakota and within the Williston Basin Province. The assessment is based on geologic elements of a total...
Pollastro, R.M.; Roberts, L.N.R.; Cook, T.A.; Lewan, M.D.
Assessment of undiscovered technically recoverable conventional petroleum resources of northern Afghanistan
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey - Afghanistan Ministry of Mines and Industry Joint Oil and Gas Resource Assessment Team estimated mean volumes of undiscovered petroleum in northern Afghanistan; the resulting estimates are 1.6 billion barrels (0.2 billion metric tons) of crude oil, 16 trillion cubic feet (0....
Klett, T.R.; Ulmishek, G.F.; Wandrey, C.J.; Agena, Warren F.; Steinshouer, Douglas
Estimates of technically recoverable petroleum resources for continuous-type (unconventional) plays in sandstones, shales, and chalks on Federal Lands of the conterminous United States
Crovelli, R.A.; Schmoker, J.W.
USGS Releases New Oil and Gas Assessment for Bakken and Three Forks Formations
On April 30, 2013, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) released an updated oil and gas resource assessment for the Bakken Formation and a new assessment for the Three Forks Formation in North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana. The assessments found that the formations contain an estimated mean of 7.4 billion barrels (BBO) of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil. The updated...
3 to 4.3 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil assessed in Bakken Formation
USGS Bakken expert to present findings at Energy Expo in Bismarck
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientist Richard Pollastro, lead researcher on a recent study assessing the undiscovered oil resources in the Bakken Formation, will present at the Great Plains Energy Expo in Bismarck on Tuesday, November 11.
3 to 4.3 Billion Barrels of Technically Recoverable Oil Assessed in North Dakota and Montana’s Bakken Formation—25 Times More Than 1995 Estimate—
North Dakota and Montana have an estimated 3.0 to 4.3 billion barrels of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil in an area known as the Bakken Formation.
Bakken Well in North Dakota
Bakken well in North Dakota (Photograph by Joanna Thamke, USGS).
Well Drill in the Bakken Formation near Williston
Water truck in background is providing maintenance water to a producing well drilled in the Bakken Formation near Williston, North Dakota.
Bakken Drilling
Bakken drilling and completion activities at a well along Interstate-94, 6 miles east of Belfield, North Dakota.
Bakken Drill Rig
A drill rig in the Bakken oil field in Stark County, western North Dakota.
Bakken Drill Rig
A drill rig in the Bakken oil field in Stark County, western North Dakota.
Bakken Oil Well
Oil-well pads dotting the landscape of typical badland topography. Thousands of new wells are drilled into the Bakken and Three Forks annually, making this one of the most productive plays in the Nation.