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Geologic models underpinning the 2018 US Geological Survey assessment of hydrocarbon resources in the Eagle Ford Group and associated Cenomanian–Turonian strata, United States Gulf Coast, Texas

September 30, 2022

The availability of new geologic and production data has greatly increased since 2010, when the US Geological Survey (USGS) last assessed undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and gas resources in the Cenomanian–Turonian (CT) Eagle Ford Group (EFG) across Texas. This new information facilitated an updated assessment of undiscovered continuous oil and gas resources in the Eagle Ford and associated CT strata.

Literature and USGS research data were used to build the geologic models for the assessment units (AUs). The USGS defined six continuous AUs within the EFG: (1) Eagle Ford Marl Continuous Oil, (2) Eagle Ford Marl Continuous Gas, (3) Submarine Plateau-Karnes Trough Continuous Oil, (4) Submarine Plateau-Karnes Trough Continuous Gas, (5) CT Mudstone Continuous Oil, and (6) CT Mudstone Continuous Gas. An additional AU, the CT Slope Continuous Gas AU, was defined but not quantitatively assessed. The boundaries of these AUs were defined by thickness, lithofacies, thermal maturity, regional geology, and the spatial distribution of productive fairways.

The resulting total mean estimates for undiscovered, technically recoverable resources for these six AUs are 8.5 billion bbl of oil and 66 trillion ft3 of gas. These results for both oil and gas resources are within the top five volumes of previously assessed continuous accumulations in the United States and attest to the importance of the EFG and associated CT strata as a significant source of petroleum well into the future.

Publication Year 2022
Title Geologic models underpinning the 2018 US Geological Survey assessment of hydrocarbon resources in the Eagle Ford Group and associated Cenomanian–Turonian strata, United States Gulf Coast, Texas
DOI 10.1306/02072218153
Authors Katherine J. Whidden, Janet K. Pitman, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Ofori N. Pearson, Nicholas J. Gianoutsos, Scott A. Kinney, Justin E. Birdwell, Stanley T. Paxton, Lauri A. Burke, Russell Dubiel
Publication Type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Series Title AAPG Bulletin
Index ID 70259193
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse
USGS Organization Central Energy Resources Science Center
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