APPLICATION OF SPATIAL INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TO PETROLEUM RESOURCE ASSESSMENT ANALYSIS.

Petroleum resource assessment procedures require the analysis of a large volume of spatial data. The US Geological Survey (USGS) has developed and applied spatial information handling procedures and digital cartographic techniques to a recent study involving the assessment of oil and gas resource potential for 74 million acres of designated and proposed wilderness lands in the western United States. The part of the study which dealt with the application of spatial information technology to petroleum resource assessment procedures is reviewed. A method was designed to expedite the gathering, integrating, managing, manipulating and plotting of spatial data from multiple data sources that are essential in modern resource assessment procedures.