Geoffrey S Ellis
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
Geochemical and spectroscopic data on core samples from Lake Tanganyika in Tanzania
Sedimentary geochemistry of a deepwater slope environment of southern Lake Tanganyika
Stable Isotopic Data (Delta13C and Delta2H) for Reference Materials HCG-1, HCG-2, and HCG-3
Assessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources in presalt reservoirs of the West-Central Coastal Province of Africa, 2022
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean conventional resources of 12.1 billion barrels of oil and 50 trillion cubic feet of gas in presalt reservoirs within the West-Central Coastal Province of Africa.
Assessment of undiscovered continuous oil and gas resources in Upper Cretaceous marine shales of the Raton Basin-Sierra Grande Uplift Province, Colorado and New Mexico, 2022
Assessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources in the offshore Salt Basin area of Morocco, 2021
Assessment of coalbed gas resources in the Raton Basin-Sierra Grande Uplift Province, Colorado and New Mexico, 2022
Assessment of continuous oil and gas resources in the Bakken Formation of northwest Montana, 2022
Assessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources of the Barents Sea area, 2021
Assessment of continuous oil and gas resources in the Lower Saxony Basin of Germany, 2020
Assessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources of the Senegal Basin Province of northwest Africa, 2021
Assessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources of the Volga-Ural Basin and Timan-Pechora Basin Provinces of Russia, 2020
Assessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources of New Guinea, Papua Barat, Seram, and Timor-Leste, 2020
Assessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources of the West Siberian Basin Province, Russia, 2020
Assessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources of the Montana Thrust Belt Province, 2021
Science and Products
- Data
Geochemical and spectroscopic data on core samples from Lake Tanganyika in Tanzania
This data release contains geochemical and spectroscopic laboratory results associated with the journal article "Middle-Late Holocene paleolimnological changes in central Lake Tanganyika: Integrated evidence from the Kavala Island Ridge (Tanzania)". Data include bulk organic geochemistry, organic stable carbon isotope, and infrared spectroscopic analyses. Location for LT-TANG17-9B-1U-1: latitude: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: 67
Assessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources in presalt reservoirs of the West-Central Coastal Province of Africa, 2022
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean conventional resources of 12.1 billion barrels of oil and 50 trillion cubic feet of gas in presalt reservoirs within the West-Central Coastal Province of 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 continuous oil and gas resources in Upper Cretaceous marine shales of the Raton Basin-Sierra Grande Uplift Province, Colorado and New Mexico, 2022
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated means of 1.04 billion barrels of oil, 3.9 trillion cubic feet of gas, and 11 million barrels of natural gas liquids in Upper Cretaceous marine shales in the Raton Basin-Sierra Grande Uplift Province in Colorado and New Mexico.AuthorsThomas M. Finn, Christopher J. Schenk, Tracey J. Mercier, Cheryl A. Woodall, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Phuong A. Le, Andrea D. Cicero, Geoffrey S. Ellis, Michael H. Gardner, Sarah E. Gelman, Jane S. Hearon, Benjamin G. Johnson, Scott A. Kinney, Jenny H. Lagesse, Kira K. Timm, Scott S. YoungAssessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources in the offshore Salt Basin area of Morocco, 2021
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 3.8 billion barrels of oil and 20.7 trillion cubic feet of gas offshore of Morocco.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 coalbed gas resources in the Raton Basin-Sierra Grande Uplift Province, Colorado and New Mexico, 2022
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated a mean of 5.2 trillion cubic feet of coalbed gas in the Vermejo Formation and Raton Formation of the Raton Basin-Sierra Grande Uplift Province.AuthorsChristopher J. Schenk, Thomas M. Finn, Tracey J. Mercier, Cheryl A. Woodall, Phuong A. Le, Andrea D. Cicero, Ronald M. Drake, Geoffrey S. Ellis, 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 continuous oil and gas resources in the Bakken Formation of northwest Montana, 2022
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated means of 220 million barrels of continuous oil and 1 trillion cubic feet of continuous gas in the Bakken Formation of northwest Montana.AuthorsChristopher J. Schenk, Michael H. Gardner, Tracey J. Mercier, Cheryl A. Woodall, Phuong A. Le, Andrea D. Cicero, Ronald M. Drake, Geoffrey S. Ellis, Thomas M. Finn, 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 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. Young - 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