Publications
Browse recent USGS publications related to energy resources.
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Metallurgical coal—Deposits, production, resources, market dynamics, and supply chain risks Metallurgical coal—Deposits, production, resources, market dynamics, and supply chain risks
Plain Language Summary Metallurgical coal (met coal; consumed to produce coke for steelmaking) must meet specific chemical and physical specifications. In 2023, the conterminous United States produced 66 million short tons (mst) of met coal, consumed 15.85 mst domestically, exported 51.1 mst, and imported 0.7 mst. Most met coal was produced in the Appalachian Basin, but there are also...
Authors
Brian N. Shaffer, Elisa Alonso, Michelle N. Johnston, Scott A. Kinney
Assessment of undiscovered shale-gas resources in the Grand Erg/Ahnet Basin Province of Algeria, 2026 Assessment of undiscovered shale-gas resources in the Grand Erg/Ahnet Basin Province of Algeria, 2026
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 80.1 trillion cubic feet of shale gas in the Grand Erg/Ahnet Basin Province of Algeria.
Authors
Michael E. Brownfield, Christopher J. Schenk, Tracey J. Mercier, Marilyn E. Tennyson, Cheryl A. Woodall, Thomas M. Finn, Phuong A. Le, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Janet K. Pitman, Ronald M. Drake, Stephanie B. Gaswirth
The Sedimentary Geochemistry and Paleoenvironments Project Phase 2 data release: An open data resource for the study of Earth's environmental history The Sedimentary Geochemistry and Paleoenvironments Project Phase 2 data release: An open data resource for the study of Earth's environmental history
Geochemical data from sedimentary rocks are the primary source of information regarding Earth's surface evolution through time, including its air and water envelopes and interactions with life and deep Earth processes. The Sedimentary Geochemistry and Paleoenvironments Project (SGP) is a scientific consortium centered around open data and community-driven development of...
Authors
Una Farrell, Hunter Olson, Maya Thompson, Michelle L. Abshire, Oyeleye Adeboye, Anne-Sofie Ahm, Lewis Alcott, Thomas Algeo, Ross Anderson, Arif Ansari, Lucas Bastos, Kohen Bauer, Brian Beaty, Justin E. Birdwell, Fred Bowyer, Jochen J. Brocks, Tessa Brunoir, James F. Busch, Donald Canfield, Fabrício Caxito, Chao-Chin Chang, Meng Cheng, Jean Clemente, David Cordie, Peter W. Crockford, Huan Cui, Celeste Cunningham, Tais Dahl, Janaina Rodrigues de Paula, Carol Dehler, Lucas Del Mouro, Keith Dewing, Dermeval Aparecido do Carmo, Stephen Dornbos, Nadja Drabon, Julie A. Dumoulin, Omabehere Ejeh, Emily Ellefson, Maya Elrick, Joseph Emmings, Bokanda Eric, Hao Fang, Gabriella Fazio, Henrique Fernandes, Katherine L. French, Robert R. Gaines, Richard Gaschnig, Timothy M. Gibson, Geoffrey J. Gilleaudeau, Karin Goldberg, Zheng Gong, Amy Hagen, Galen P. Halverson, Kalev G. Hantsoo, Emma R. Haxen, Miles A. Henderson, João-Pedro Hippertt, Malcolm S. W. Hodgskiss, Paul Hoffman, Edward Huang, Benjamin Johnson, Pavel B. Kabanov, Junyao Kang, C. Brenhin Keller, Brian Kendall, Julien Kimmig, Sara Kimmig, Michael A. Kipp, Andrew H. Knoll, Timmu Kreitsmann, Anurag Kulkarni, Alexandra Kunert, Marcus Kunzmann, Jiankang Lai, Richard O. Lease, Chao Li, Sen Li, Alex Lipp, Yang Liu, David Loydell, Xinze Lu, Katie Maloney, Kaarel Mänd, Alexie E. G. Millikin, N. Tanner Mills, Kento Motomura, Chiza N. Mwinde, Lyle Nelson, Nora M. Nieminski, Brennan O'Connell, Edel Mary O'Sullivan, Juliana Okubo, Jaden Olah, Frantz Ossa Ossa, Chadlin Ostrander, Kärt Paiste, Camille A. Partin, Egberto Pereira, Shanan Peters, Tiffany L. Playter, Susannah M. Porter, Simon W. Poulton, Sara B. Pruss, Zhen Qiu, Daven Quinn, Mariano Remirez, Sebastian Richiano, Sylvain Richoz, Kathryn Rico, Samantha R. Ritzer, Zachary Roney, Alan D. Rooney, William C. Rose, Elias Rugen, Swapan K. Sahoo, Shane D. Schoepfer, Judith A. Sclafani, Nathan D. Sheldon, Yanan Shen, Graham Shields, Pulkit Singh, Arvind Singh, Sarah P. Slotznick, Emily Smith, Haijun Song, Sam Spinks, Richard G. Stockey, Justin Strauss, Eva Stüeken, Zongyuan Sun, Dongjie Tang, Lidya Tarhan, Danielle Thomson, Nicholas Tosca, Rosalie Tostevin, Chenyi Tu, Maoli Vizcaíno, Yuxuan Wang, Changle Wang, Xiaomei Wang, Lucas Warren, Lucy Webb, Philip R. Wilby, Christina R. Woltz, Rachel Wood, Yuyang Wu, Xiuqing Yang, Inessa A. Yurchenko, Junpeng Zhang, Jessica Whiteside, Benjamin C. Gill, Akshay Mehra, Kimberly V. Lau, Noah J. Planavsky, David T. Johnston, Erik A Sperling
Rare earth element potential in coal and coal ash in the U.S. Gulf Coast Rare earth element potential in coal and coal ash in the U.S. Gulf Coast
United States heavy reliance on imports of critical minerals (CMs), including rare earth elements (REEs), underscores the importance of development of domestic sources. The study objective was to quantify CM and REE concentrations in coal and coal ash in the US Gulf Coast region. CM and REE concentrations were measured for 118 samples from outcrops and 14 mines in the Gulf Coast. Results...
Authors
Bridget R. Scanlon, Robert C. Reedy, Brent A. Elliott, James C. Hower, J. Richard Kyle, Marek Locmelis, Nolan Theaker, Peter D. Warwick
Bottom-up characterization of geologic methane emissions in the San Juan Basin in the southwestern USA Bottom-up characterization of geologic methane emissions in the San Juan Basin in the southwestern USA
Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that plays an important role in atmospheric chemistry and global warming. The current global methane budget has large uncertainties, and a better understanding of the budget would help to guide strategies for reducing anthropogenic emissions to fight climate change. Natural geologic methane emissions are a particularly poorly constrained source, with...
Authors
Margaret Scholer, Kathleen R. Hall, Thomas S. Weber, Marc L. Buursink, Mingzhe Zhu, Alexander C. Ihle, Devin Hencmann, Andrew M. Smith, Katey W. Anthony, Vasilii V. Petrenko
Depositional interplay between the Ancestral Rocky Mountains and Ouachita–Marathon–Sonora orogenies: Insights from provenance records in the late Paleozoic Marfa Basin, West Texas, U.S.A. Depositional interplay between the Ancestral Rocky Mountains and Ouachita–Marathon–Sonora orogenies: Insights from provenance records in the late Paleozoic Marfa Basin, West Texas, U.S.A.
The Marfa Basin in West Texas is a late Palaeozoic synorogenic depocenter associated with regional deformation linked to the Ancestral Rocky Mountains (ARM) and Ouachita–Marathon–Sonora (OMS) orogenies in southwestern Laurentia. Basin strata range in age from Middle Pennsylvanian to the middle Permian and include the Cieneguita, Alta, Pinto Canyon, Rose Mine and Mina Grande Formations...
Authors
Sandra Juárez-Zúñiga, Daniel F. Stockli, Benjamin G. Johnson, Timothy F. Lawton
Assessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources of South America and the Caribbean, 2025 Assessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources of South America and the Caribbean, 2025
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean conventional resources of 37.6 billion barrels of oil and 281.6 trillion cubic feet of gas in 31 geologic provinces of South America and the Caribbean.
Authors
Christopher J. Schenk, Tracey J. Mercier, Phuong A. Le, Andrea D. Cicero, Sarah E. Gelman, Jane S. Hearon, Benjamin G. Johnson, Jenny H. Lagesse, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller
Continuous measurements reveal wind and temperature affect orphan well methane emissions on the Kevin-Sunburst Dome, Montana Continuous measurements reveal wind and temperature affect orphan well methane emissions on the Kevin-Sunburst Dome, Montana
Fifteen leaking orphan wells on the Kevin-Sunburst Dome in northern Montana had emission rates that were affected by surface winds and diurnal temperature swings based on continuous monitoring data. Some wells showed correlating spikes in emissions when temperatures changed or wind speed increased while others demonstrated independent flow behavior despite being drilled into the same...
Authors
Nicholas J. Gianoutsos, Karl B. Haase, Justin E. Birdwell, Michael H. Hofmann, Curtis E. Shuck
Assessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources of the Larsen Basin, Antarctica, 2025 Assessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources of the Larsen Basin, Antarctica, 2025
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean conventional resources of 269 million barrels of oil and 14.3 trillion cubic feet of gas in the Larsen Basin, Antarctica.
Authors
Christopher J. Schenk, Tracey J. Mercier, Janet K. Pitman, Phuong A. Le, Andrea D. Cicero, Benjamin G. Johnson, Jenny H. Lagesse, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller
Inference of pattern-based geological CO2 sequestration and oil recovery potential in a commingled main pay and residual oil zone CO2-EOR flood Inference of pattern-based geological CO2 sequestration and oil recovery potential in a commingled main pay and residual oil zone CO2-EOR flood
Several detailed studies have shown that residual oil zones (ROZs) can present significant resources for additional hydrocarbon recovery as well as subsurface carbon dioxide (CO2) sequestration via enhanced oil recovery by injecting CO2 (CO2-EOR). Field development strategies included new wells drilled dedicated to main pay zones (MPZ) and ROZs, or existing wells in MPZs deepened to ROZs...
Authors
C. Ozgen Karacan, Emil Attanasi, Sean T. Brennan, Peter D. Warwick
Assessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources in the Santos Basin, Campos Basin, and Espírito Santo Basin provinces of Brazil, 2024 Assessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources in the Santos Basin, Campos Basin, and Espírito Santo Basin provinces of Brazil, 2024
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean conventional resources of 10.4 billion barrels of oil and 53.3 trillion cubic feet of gas in the Santos Basin, Campos Basin, and Espírito Santo Basin provinces of Brazil.
Authors
Christopher J. Schenk, Sarah E. Gelman, Jane S. Hearon, Tracey J. Mercier, Phuong A. Le, Andrea D. Cicero, Benjamin G. Johnson, Jenny H. Lagesse, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in waters associated with oil and gas development in the Denver Basin Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in waters associated with oil and gas development in the Denver Basin
Use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the petroleum industry could be a cause for concern due to the large volumes of produced water (PW) generated during oil and gas extraction, the reuse of these wastes in water-stressed regions, and adverse health outcomes related to PFAS exposures. However, PW PFAS characterization is nearly absent in the literature, and hydraulic...
Authors
Matthew S. Varonka, Aaron M. Jubb, Bonnie McDevitt, Jenna L. Shelton, Elliott P. Barnhart, Denise M. Akob, Isabelle M. Cozzarelli