Geoffrey Ellis is a petroleum geochemist with the Energy Resources Program (ERP) of the US Geological Survey. He manages the sealed tube and hydrous pyrolysis laboratories within the Central Energy Resources Science Center.
Geoffrey Ellis' research interests encompass the areas of organic-inorganic interactions in petroleum systems, gas isotope geochemistry, and the controls on sedimentary organic geochemistry in aquatic environments. He has published extensively on the process of thermochemical sulfate reduction and its impact on petroleum geochemistry. He is also actively investigating the application of compound-specific sulfur isotope analysis to problems in petroleum and organic geochemistry. He also has ongoing research projects involving clumped and position specific isotope analysis of hydrocarbons and organosulfur compounds and their relation to petroleum formation processes.
Professional Experience
2006-Present: Research Geologist, Energy Resources Program, USGS
2003-2006: Postdoctoral Fellow, Division of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology
1996-2003: Graduate Research Assistant, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami
1994-1996: Consulting Petroleum Geochemist, Venezuela
1991-1994: Physical Scientist, Nation Research Program, Water Resources Division, USGS
1988-1990: Geochemist, Northeast Research Institute
Education and Certifications
Ph.D., Marine Geology and Geophysics, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami
M.S., Geochemistry, Colorado School of Mines
B.A., Geological Sciences, Cornell University
Affiliations and Memberships*
Affiliate faculty Department of Geology and Geological Engineering, Colorado School of Mines
Member American Association of Petroleum Geologists, European Association of Organic Geochemists, Geochemical Society, Geological Society of America
Member Association of Afro-Asian Petroleum Geochemists, Latin American Association of Organic Geochemistry
Member of the “Committee on Research” of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (2009-present)
Vice-chairman of the executive council of the Association of Afro-Asian Petroleum Geochemists
Founding member of the editorial board of the journal Petroleum Research
Member of the editorial board of the English-language version of the journal Acta Petrolei Sinica
Member of the editorial board of the journal Journal of Natural Gas Geoscience
Member of the editorial board of the journal Unconventional Resources
Science and Products
Sedimentary geochemistry of a deepwater slope environment of southern Lake Tanganyika
This dataset contains geochemical data (Total Inorganic Carbon, Total Organic Carbon, Total Nitrogen, δ13C of Organic Carbon, Hydrogen Index, Oxygen Index, Zirconium/Aluminum, and Magnetic Susceptibility) for sediments from one short (~1 m) core collected in 420 m of water in southern Lake Tanganyika, Tanzania.
Stable Isotopic Data (Delta13C and Delta2H) for Reference Materials HCG-1, HCG-2, and HCG-3
Stable carbon and hydrogen isotopic data generated by off-line preparation and dual inlet mass spectrometric analysis used the determine the recommended values for the reference materials HCG-1, HCG-2, and HCG-3.
Filter Total Items: 62
Assessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources of the Barents Sea area, 2021
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean conventional resources of 7.3 billion barrels of oil and 463.7 trillion cubic feet of gas within the Barents Sea area.
Authors
Christopher J. Schenk, Tracey J. Mercier, Cheryl A. Woodall, Geoffrey S. Ellis, Thomas M. Finn, Phuong A. Le, Kristen R. Marra, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Ronald M. Drake
Assessment of continuous oil and gas resources in the Lower Saxony Basin of Germany, 2020
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 321 million barrels of shale oil and 435 billion cubic feet of shale gas in the Lower Saxony Basin, Germany.
Authors
Christopher J. Schenk, Tracey J. Mercier, Cheryl A. Woodall, Thomas M. Finn, Kristen R. Marra, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Phuong A. Le, Ronald M. Drake, Geoffrey S. Ellis
Assessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources of the Senegal Basin Province of northwest Africa, 2021
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 13,929 million (13.9 billion) barrels of oil and 193,721 billion (193.7 trillion) cubic feet of gas within the Senegal Basin Province of northwest Africa.
Authors
Christopher J. Schenk, Tracey J. Mercier, Cheryl A. Woodall, Phuong A. Le, Andrea D. Cicero, Ronald M. Drake, Geoffrey S. Ellis, Thomas M. Finn, Michael H. Gardner, Sarah E. Gelman, Jane S. Hearon, Benjamin G. Johnson, Jenny H. Lagesse, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Kristen R. Marra, Kira K. Timm, Scott S. Young
Assessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources of the Volga-Ural Basin and Timan-Pechora Basin Provinces of Russia, 2020
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 Basin Provinc
Authors
Christopher J. Schenk, Tracey J. Mercier, Geoffrey S. Ellis, Cheryl A. Woodall, Thomas M. Finn, Marilyn E. Tennyson, Phuong A. Le, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Ronald M. Drake
Assessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources of New Guinea, Papua Barat, Seram, and Timor-Leste, 2020
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.
Authors
Christopher J. Schenk, Tracey J. Mercier, Marilyn E. Tennyson, Geoffrey S. Ellis, Cheryl A. Woodall, Phuong A. Le, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Ronald M. Drake
Assessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources of the West Siberian Basin Province, Russia, 2020
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean conventional resources of 12.9 billion barrels of oil and 684.3 trillion cubic feet of gas in the West Siberian Basin Province of Russia.
Authors
Christopher J. Schenk, Tracey J. Mercier, Geoffrey S. Ellis, Cheryl A. Woodall, Phuong A. Le, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Ronald M. Drake
Assessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources of the Montana Thrust Belt Province, 2021
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated means of 783 million barrels of conventional oil and 17,606 billion (17.6 trillion) cubic feet of conventional gas in the Montana Thrust Belt Province.
Authors
Christopher J. Schenk, Tracey J. Mercier, Cheryl A. Woodall, Phuong A. Le, Andrea D. Cicero, Ronald M. Drake, Geoffrey S. Ellis, Thomas M. Finn, Michael H. Gardner, Sarah E. Gelman, Jane S. Hearon, Benjamin G. Johnson, Jenny H. Lagesse, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Kristen R. Marra, Kira K. Timm, Scott S. Young
Geochemical characterization of natural gases in the pre-salt section of the Santos Basin (Brazil) focused on hydrocarbons and volatile organic sulfur compounds
The objective of this work is to characterize the geochemistry of a suite of natural gas samples from five fields in order to improve the understanding of the lacustrine petroleum system of the pre-salt section from the Santos Basin (Brazil). Additionally, the distribution of volatile organic sulfur compounds (VOSC) in petroleum reservoirs was examined to investigate possible applications to petro
Authors
Igor V. A. F. Souza, Geoffrey S. Ellis, Alexandre A. Ferreira, Jarbas V. P. Guzzo, Rut A. Díaz, Ana Luiza S. Albuquerque, Alon Amrani
Assessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources of the greater Taranaki Basin and East Coast Basin of New Zealand, 2020
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated means of 806 million barrels of oil and 17.0 trillion cubic feet of gas within the greater Taranaki Basin and East Coast Basin of New Zealand.
Authors
Christopher J. Schenk, Tracey J. Mercier, Marilyn Tennyson, Geoffrey S. Ellis, Cheryl A. Woodall, Phuong A. Le, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Ronald M. Drake
Development of hydrocarbon gas standards for stable isotopic composition (δ13C and δ2H)
A suite of gas standards was developed to serve as international secondary reference materials (RMs) for the determination of the compound-specific carbon-13/carbon-12 (δ13C) and hydrogen-2/hydrogen-1 (δ2H) values of hydrocarbon gases. This report provides background information on the project, the methods used to produce and analyze the gases, as well as the data analysis and recommended stable i
Authors
Geoffrey S. Ellis, Robert F. Dias
Assessment of undiscovered continuous oil resources in the Bakken and Three Forks Formations of the Williston Basin Province, North Dakota and Montana, 2021
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 4.3 billion barrels of oil and 4.9 trillion cubic feet of gas (associated) in the Bakken and Three Forks Formations of the Williston Basin Province, North Dakota and Montana.
Authors
Kristen R. Marra, Tracey J. Mercier, Sarah E. Gelman, Christopher J. Schenk, Cheryl A. Woodall, Andrea D. Cicero, Ronald M. Drake, Geoffrey S. Ellis, Thomas M. Finn, Michael H. Gardner, Jane S. Hearon, Benjamin G. Johnson, Jenny H. Lagesse, Phuong A. Le, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Kira K. Timm, Scott S. Young
Assessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources of China, 2020
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 13.4 billion barrels of oil and 244.4 trillion cubic feet of gas in nine geologic provinces of China.
Authors
Christopher J. Schenk, Tracey J. Mercier, Cheryl A. Woodall, Geoffrey S. Ellis, Thomas M. Finn, Phuong A. Le, Kristen R. Marra, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Ronald M. Drake
Science and Products
- Data
Sedimentary geochemistry of a deepwater slope environment of southern Lake Tanganyika
This dataset contains geochemical data (Total Inorganic Carbon, Total Organic Carbon, Total Nitrogen, δ13C of Organic Carbon, Hydrogen Index, Oxygen Index, Zirconium/Aluminum, and Magnetic Susceptibility) for sediments from one short (~1 m) core collected in 420 m of water in southern Lake Tanganyika, Tanzania.Stable Isotopic Data (Delta13C and Delta2H) for Reference Materials HCG-1, HCG-2, and HCG-3
Stable carbon and hydrogen isotopic data generated by off-line preparation and dual inlet mass spectrometric analysis used the determine the recommended values for the reference materials HCG-1, HCG-2, and HCG-3. - Publications
Filter Total Items: 62
Assessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources of the Barents Sea area, 2021
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean conventional resources of 7.3 billion barrels of oil and 463.7 trillion cubic feet of gas within the Barents Sea area.AuthorsChristopher J. Schenk, Tracey J. Mercier, Cheryl A. Woodall, Geoffrey S. Ellis, Thomas M. Finn, Phuong A. Le, Kristen R. Marra, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Ronald M. DrakeAssessment of continuous oil and gas resources in the Lower Saxony Basin of Germany, 2020
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 321 million barrels of shale oil and 435 billion cubic feet of shale gas in the Lower Saxony Basin, Germany.AuthorsChristopher J. Schenk, Tracey J. Mercier, Cheryl A. Woodall, Thomas M. Finn, Kristen R. Marra, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Phuong A. Le, Ronald M. Drake, Geoffrey S. EllisAssessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources of the Senegal Basin Province of northwest Africa, 2021
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 13,929 million (13.9 billion) barrels of oil and 193,721 billion (193.7 trillion) cubic feet of gas within the Senegal Basin Province of northwest Africa.AuthorsChristopher J. Schenk, Tracey J. Mercier, Cheryl A. Woodall, Phuong A. Le, Andrea D. Cicero, Ronald M. Drake, Geoffrey S. Ellis, Thomas M. Finn, Michael H. Gardner, Sarah E. Gelman, Jane S. Hearon, Benjamin G. Johnson, Jenny H. Lagesse, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Kristen R. Marra, Kira K. Timm, Scott S. YoungAssessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources of the Volga-Ural Basin and Timan-Pechora Basin Provinces of Russia, 2020
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 Basin ProvincAuthorsChristopher J. Schenk, Tracey J. Mercier, Geoffrey S. Ellis, Cheryl A. Woodall, Thomas M. Finn, Marilyn E. Tennyson, Phuong A. Le, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Ronald M. DrakeAssessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources of New Guinea, Papua Barat, Seram, and Timor-Leste, 2020
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.AuthorsChristopher J. Schenk, Tracey J. Mercier, Marilyn E. Tennyson, Geoffrey S. Ellis, Cheryl A. Woodall, Phuong A. Le, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Ronald M. DrakeAssessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources of the West Siberian Basin Province, Russia, 2020
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean conventional resources of 12.9 billion barrels of oil and 684.3 trillion cubic feet of gas in the West Siberian Basin Province of Russia.AuthorsChristopher J. Schenk, Tracey J. Mercier, Geoffrey S. Ellis, Cheryl A. Woodall, Phuong A. Le, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Ronald M. DrakeAssessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources of the Montana Thrust Belt Province, 2021
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated means of 783 million barrels of conventional oil and 17,606 billion (17.6 trillion) cubic feet of conventional gas in the Montana Thrust Belt Province.AuthorsChristopher J. Schenk, Tracey J. Mercier, Cheryl A. Woodall, Phuong A. Le, Andrea D. Cicero, Ronald M. Drake, Geoffrey S. Ellis, Thomas M. Finn, Michael H. Gardner, Sarah E. Gelman, Jane S. Hearon, Benjamin G. Johnson, Jenny H. Lagesse, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Kristen R. Marra, Kira K. Timm, Scott S. YoungGeochemical characterization of natural gases in the pre-salt section of the Santos Basin (Brazil) focused on hydrocarbons and volatile organic sulfur compounds
The objective of this work is to characterize the geochemistry of a suite of natural gas samples from five fields in order to improve the understanding of the lacustrine petroleum system of the pre-salt section from the Santos Basin (Brazil). Additionally, the distribution of volatile organic sulfur compounds (VOSC) in petroleum reservoirs was examined to investigate possible applications to petroAuthorsIgor V. A. F. Souza, Geoffrey S. Ellis, Alexandre A. Ferreira, Jarbas V. P. Guzzo, Rut A. Díaz, Ana Luiza S. Albuquerque, Alon AmraniAssessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources of the greater Taranaki Basin and East Coast Basin of New Zealand, 2020
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated means of 806 million barrels of oil and 17.0 trillion cubic feet of gas within the greater Taranaki Basin and East Coast Basin of New Zealand.AuthorsChristopher J. Schenk, Tracey J. Mercier, Marilyn Tennyson, Geoffrey S. Ellis, Cheryl A. Woodall, Phuong A. Le, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Ronald M. DrakeDevelopment of hydrocarbon gas standards for stable isotopic composition (δ13C and δ2H)
A suite of gas standards was developed to serve as international secondary reference materials (RMs) for the determination of the compound-specific carbon-13/carbon-12 (δ13C) and hydrogen-2/hydrogen-1 (δ2H) values of hydrocarbon gases. This report provides background information on the project, the methods used to produce and analyze the gases, as well as the data analysis and recommended stable iAuthorsGeoffrey S. Ellis, Robert F. DiasAssessment of undiscovered continuous oil resources in the Bakken and Three Forks Formations of the Williston Basin Province, North Dakota and Montana, 2021
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 4.3 billion barrels of oil and 4.9 trillion cubic feet of gas (associated) in the Bakken and Three Forks Formations of the Williston Basin Province, North Dakota and Montana.AuthorsKristen R. Marra, Tracey J. Mercier, Sarah E. Gelman, Christopher J. Schenk, Cheryl A. Woodall, Andrea D. Cicero, Ronald M. Drake, Geoffrey S. Ellis, Thomas M. Finn, Michael H. Gardner, Jane S. Hearon, Benjamin G. Johnson, Jenny H. Lagesse, Phuong A. Le, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Kira K. Timm, Scott S. YoungAssessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources of China, 2020
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 13.4 billion barrels of oil and 244.4 trillion cubic feet of gas in nine geologic provinces of China.AuthorsChristopher J. Schenk, Tracey J. Mercier, Cheryl A. Woodall, Geoffrey S. Ellis, Thomas M. Finn, Phuong A. Le, Kristen R. Marra, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Ronald M. Drake - News
*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government