Justin Birdwell
My USGS research involves the following energy-related issues: estimating undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and gas resources from U.S. petroleum systems; assessing development potential of oil shale deposits; examining environmental impacts of energy development; applying new methods to the characterization of source rocks and petroleum; and developing geochemical reference materials.
Biography
Education
Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, 2007, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana (Advisor: Louis J. Thibodeaux)
B.S., Chemical Engineering, 2002, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Professional Experience
11/2011-Present, Research Engineer, USGS
10/2009-10/2011, Mendenhall Postdoctoral Fellow/Research Engineer, USGS
1/2008-9/2009, Research Associate, LSU
8/2002-12/2007, Graduate Student/Research & Teaching Assistant, LSU
Justin Birdwell is the Denver project chief for the USGS Energy Resources Program’s Gulf Coast Petroleum Systems Research project, and his research focuses on unconventional petroleum resource assessment in Gulf Coast, Rocky Mountain, and Alaskan basins, geochemical characterization of source rocks and petroleum, and development of geochemical reference materials. Justin is chair of AAPG Energy Minerals Division (EMD) commodity committee on tight oil & gas resources, an Assoc. Editor of AAPG Bulletin & The Mountain Geologist, a member of the AAPG House of Delegates representing Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists, and president-elect of AAPG EMD for 2020-2021.
https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=16174195400
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Justin_Birdwell
https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=7xr20ZQAAAAJ
Science and Products
Development of USGS Geochemical Reference Materials
The project focus was the development of traditional and microanalytical reference materials that support USGS geochemical investigations. Development of new microanalytical reference materials allows USGS scientists and outside customers to examine a greater range of sample types while maintaining a high degree of data reliability.
Gulf Coast Petroleum Systems Project - Research
This site highlights the research on the processes that impact the formation, accumulation, occurrence, and alteration of hydrocarbon energy resources of the Gulf Coast of Mexico. The project also conducts assessments of undiscovered, technically recoverable hydrocarbon resources. The Gulf Coast Petroleum Systems Project focuses on the onshore and State waters portion of the Gulf Coast basin,...
Gulf Coast Petroleum Systems Project - Assessments
This site highlights the assessments of the Gulf Coast Petroleum Systems Project. Scientifically robust assessments of undiscovered, technically recoverable hydrocarbon resources are published in a variety of USGS publications. This project also conducts research on the processes that impact the formation, accumulation, occurrence and alteration of hydrocarbon energy resources. The Gulf...
Energy and minerals division tight oil and gas committee: Activities and commodity report for 2019-2020
In 2019, total daily tight oil and gas production increased in the United States month over month, with annualized growth of 14% for oil and 12% for gas. Those gains leveled off in the first quarter of 2020 due to aggressive price competition and increases in international production. Then came the pandemic with a substantially larger dose of...
Birdwell, Justin E.; Bowker, Kent; Burke, Ben; Chidsey, Thomas; Hammes, Ursula; Henk, Bo; Hollon, Zachary; Jiang, Shu; Li, Peng; Marra, Kristen R.; McCracken, Jock; Nyahay, Richard; Seyedolali, Abbas; Schmid, Katie; Tinnin, Beau; Whidden, Katherine J.
Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources in the Upper Cretaceous Austin Chalk and Tokio and Eutaw Formations, U.S. Gulf Coast, 2019
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 6.9 billion barrels of oil and 41.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in conventional and continuous accumulations in the Upper Cretaceous Austin Chalk and Tokio and Eutaw Formations onshore and in State...
Pitman, Janet K.; Paxton, Stanley T.; Kinney, Scott A.; Whidden, Katherine J.; Haines, Seth S.; Varela, Brian A.; Mercier, Tracey J.; Woodall, Cheryl A.; Schenk, Christopher J.; Leathers-Miller, Heidi M.; Pearson, Ofori N.; Burke, Lauri A.; Le, Phuong A.; Birdwell, Justin E.; Gianoutsos, Nicholas J.; French, Katherine L.; Drake, Ronald M.; Finn, Thomas M.; Ellis, Geoffrey S.; Gaswirth, Stephanie B.; Marra, Kristen R.; Tennyson, Marilyn E.; Shorten, Chilisa M. Examination of inertinite within immature Eagle Ford Shale at the nanometer-scale using atomic force microscopy-based infrared spectroscopy
The nanoscale molecular composition of sedimentary organic matter is challenging to characterize in situ given the limited tools available that can adequately interrogate its complex chemical structure. This is a particularly relevant issue in source rocks, as kerogen composition will strongly impact its reactivity and so is critical to...
Jubb, Aaron M.; Hackley, Paul C.; Birdwell, Justin E.; Hatcherian, Javin J.; Qu, Jing
Assessment of water and proppant quantities associated with petroleum production from the Eagle Ford Group, Gulf Coast, Texas, 2019
Building on a geology-based assessment of undiscovered, technically recoverable petroleum resources in the Eagle Ford Group in south Texas, the U.S. Geological Survey has estimated the required water and proppant demands and formation water production volumes associated with possible future development of these petroleum resources. The results of...
Gianoutsos, Nicholas J.; Haines, Seth S.; Varela, Brian A.; Whidden, Katherine J.; Birdwell, Justin E.; Burke, Lauri A.; Drake, Ronald M.; Finn, Thomas M.; French, Katherine L.; Jenni, Karen E.; Kinney, Scott A.; Le, Phuong A.; Leathers-Miller, Heidi M.; Marra, Kristen R.; Mercier, Tracey J.; Paxton, Stanley T.; Pitman, Janet K.; Schenk, Christopher J.; Shaffer, Brian N.; Shorten, Chilisa M.; Tennyson, Marilyn E.; Woodall, Cheryl A. Nanoscale molecular composition of solid bitumen from the Eagle Ford Group across a natural thermal maturity gradient
Microscopic solid bitumen is a petrographically defined secondary organic matter residue produced during petroleum generation and subsequent oil transformation. The presence of solid bitumen impacts many reservoir properties including porosity, permeability, and hydrocarbon generation and storage, among others. Furthermore, solid bitumen...
Jubb, Aaron M.; Birdwell, Justin E.; Hackley, Paul C.; Hatcherian, Javin J.; Qu, Jing Trends in thermal maturity indicators for the organic sulfur-rich Eagle Ford Shale
Thermal maturity is critical to evaluate petroleum systems and to interpret biomarker results for paleoenvironmental and geobiology studies. Many thermal maturity indices were developed for marine source rocks containing type II kerogen, but their behavior in organic sulfur-rich source rocks requires more investigation. Here, we present...
French, Katherine L.; Birdwell, Justin E.; Lewan, Michael Mineralogy and lithology of the Upper Cretaceous Niobrara Formation determined by hyperspectral core imaging
Sections of the Upper Cretaceous (Coniacian to Campanian) Niobrara Formation in two cores from Kansas and Colorado, the Amoco Rebecca Bounds and USGS Portland 1, respectively, were examined by hyperspectral core imaging and analysis. A spectral imaging system combining high-resolution photography (50 μm), 3D laser profiling (20 μm), and near-...
Birdwell, Justin E.; Fontenot, Lionel C.; Martini, Brigette Biomarker similarities between the saline lacustrine Eocene Green River and the Paleoproterozoic Barney Creek Formations
The Paleoproterozoic Barney Creek Formation, which is currently interpreted as a restricted, deep marine paleoenvironment, plays a disproportionate role in our understanding of Proterozoic ocean chemistry and the rise of complex life. The Barney Creek Formation hosts several unusual biomarker features, specifically its methylhopane and carotenoid...
French, Katherine L.; Birdwell, Justin E.; Vanden Berg, Michael Element cycling in the Middle-Late Triassic Shublik Formation: Mineralization vs. recycling of biolimiting nutrients in an unconventional resource play
The Triassic Shublik Formation in northern Alaska is one of the major source rocks in North America, having generated much of the petroleum in Prudhoe Bay and associated fields. The middle Shublik Formation, the focus of this study, is a highly phosphatic, organic-rich carbonate mudstone interval. Apatite cements can occur as phosphatic peloids,...
Whidden, Katherine J.; Dumoulin, Julie A.; Macquaker, James; Birdwell, Justin E.; Boehlke, Adam; French, Katherine L. Variability in results from mineralogical and organic geochemical interlaboratory testing of U. S. Geological Survey shale reference materials
The expansion of unconventional petroleum resource exploration and production in the United States has led to an increase in source rock characterization efforts, particularly related to bulk organic and mineralogical properties. To support the analytical and research needs of industry and academia, as well as internal work, the U.S. Geological...
Birdwell, Justin E.; Wilson, Stephen A. Connections between Eocene Lakes Uinta and Gosiute with emphasis on the infilling stage of Lake Uinta in Piceance Basin
Late in its history, Eocene saline Lake Gosiute in the Greater Green River Basin, Wyoming and Colorado was progressively filled from north to south with coarse volcaniclastic sediments. During the infilling, Lake Gosiute began to drain southward across the Axial arch into saline Lake Uinta in the Piceance and Uinta Basins, Colorado and Utah (about...
Johnson, Ronald C.; Birdwell, Justin E.; Brownfield, Michael E.; Mercier, Tracey J.; Hansley, Paula L. Distribution of mineral phases in the Eocene Green River Formation, Piceance Basin, Colorado – Implications for the evolution of Lake Uinta
The mineralogy of the Eocene Green River Formation in the Piceance Basin, Colorado, has been the subject of numerous studies since the 1920s. Most previous work has focused on the resource potential of these lacustrine mudrocks, which in addition to substantial oil shale potential (in-place resources of 353 billion barrels of synthetic crude oil...
Birdwell, Justin E.; Johnson, Ronald C.; Brownfield, Michael E.