Publications

The Powder River Basin (PRB) is a world-class oil province, in large part thanks to contributions from premier source rocks, Cretaceous Mowry and Niobrara shales. Both formations are also unconventional reservoirs. A critical aspect of evaluating production potential and finding sweet spots is the nature of the pore systems in these fine-grained source-rock reservoirs. Variation by...

Geologic carbon storage (GCS) is likely to be an important part of global efforts to decarbonize the energy industry. Widespread deployment of GCS relies on strategies to maximize CO2 injection rates while minimizing reservoir pressurization that could induce seismicity and/or fluid leakage into groundwater resources. Brine extraction from CO2 storage formations with subsurface...

Evaluation of intramolecular isotope distributions within organic compounds can provide important insights into gas formation processes and structural properties of gas-generating precursors, such as kerogen, bitumen, and oil, in natural reservoirs. Until recently, little has been known about the intramolecular isotope distributions within kerogens. In this study, we conducted systematic...

Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated mean undiscovered, technically recoverable continuous resources of 5.8 billion barrels of oil and 22.4 trillion cubic feet of gas in the Mesozoic Total Petroleum Systems of the Central European Basin.

Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 14,785 billion cubic feet of gas resources in the Western Gulf Basin Province, U.S. Gulf Coast region.

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...

Through the collection and analysis of shallow and deep subseafloor sediments, rocks, fluids, and life, scientific ocean drilling has enriched our understanding of the complex Earth system. Among other achievements, scientific ocean drilling has documented the history of Earth’s climate, the waxing and waning of polar ice sheets, the past changes in ocean and atmospheric circulation, the...

Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean conventional resources of 4.9 billion barrels of oil and 21 trillion cubic feet of gas within the Volga-Ural Basin Province and technically recoverable mean conventional resources of 1.8 billion barrels of oil and 9.5 trillion cubic of gas in the Timan-Pechora...

The Shublik Formation (Middle and Upper Triassic) is a mixed siliciclastic-carbonate-phosphatic unit in northern Alaska. It generated oil found in Prudhoe Bay and other accumulations and is a prospective self-sourced resource play on Alaska’s North Slope. Its distal, deeper-water equivalent—the Otuk Formation—consists largely of radiolarian chert, mudstone, and limestone and contains...

Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered resource means of 1.8 billion barrels of oil and 129.5 trillion cubic feet of gas within New Guinea, Papua Barat, Seram, and Timor-Leste.

This study presents Raman spectroscopic data paired with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images to assess solid bitumen composition as a function of solid bitumen texture and association with minerals. A series of hydrous pyrolysis experiments (1–103 days, 300–370 °C) using a low maturity (0.25% solid bitumen reflectance, BRo), high total organic carbon [(TOC), 14.0 wt%] New Albany...

Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 278 million barrels of oil and 25.7 trillion cubic feet of gas in Paleozoic total petroleum systems of the Central European Basin System.