Dr. Marc Buursink is a Research Geologist with the USGS Geology, Energy & Minerals (GEM) Science Center in Reston, Virginia.
As part of the Geology, Energy & Minerals (GEM) Science Center, Marc works on geologic carbon dioxide sequestration research, underground energy storage problems, oil and gas resource assessments, and geophysical and geochemical data interpretation and synthesis. While a research earth scientist at Chevron Energy Technology Company, he worked on seismic modeling, basin analysis problems, and deep-water Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Canada exploration. Previously at the USGS Hydrogeophysics Branch, he applied multiple geophysical methods to groundwater contamination investigations. In his spare time he serves as a volunteer EMT.
Professional Experience
2010 - present: Research Geologist, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Va.
2006 - 2010: Research Earth Scientist, Chevron Corp., Houston, Tex. and San Ramon, Calif.
2000 - 2007: Research Fellow, Boise State University, Boise, Idaho
1995 - 2001: Hydrologist, U.S. Geological Survey, Storrs, Conn.
1992 - 1995: Physical Science Technician, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Va.
Education and Certifications
Ph.D. Geophysics, Boise State University, 2006
M.S. Geosciences, University of Connecticut, 1998
B.A. Physics and Environmental Sciences with French minor, University of Virginia, 1993
Affiliations and Memberships*
Secretary, Potomac Geophysical Society (PGS)
Member, Geological Society of America (GSA) and Secretary, Energy Geology Division
Member, American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Member, American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Science and Products
Geologic Energy Storage
The United States (U.S.) domestic energy supply increasingly relies on natural gas and renewable sources; however, their efficient use is limited by supply and demand constraints. For example, a) in summer, natural gas production may outpace home heating fuel demand and b) in daytime, wind and solar electricity production may outpace industrial power requirements. Storing rather than dumping...
United States Gulf Coast Basin Curated Wells and Logs Database
The United States Gulf Coast Basin Curated Wells and Logs Database (CWLDB) is an online repository with stratigraphic information for petroleum wells in the United States portion of the onshore Gulf of Mexico Basin that provides several of the following attributes: a) deep penetrations (generally, total depth of 10,000 feet or more), b) high quality and diverse geophysical well log suites, c) lith
National assessment of carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery and associated carbon dioxide retention resources - data release
In 2020, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) completed a probabilistic assessment of the volume of technically recoverable oil resources available if current carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery (CO2-EOR) technologies were applied in amenable oil reservoirs underlying the onshore and State waters area of the conterminous United States. The assessment also includes estimates of the magnitude of CO2 s
USGS Gulf Coast Petroleum Systems, and National and Global Oil and Gas Assessment Projects - U.S. Gulf Coast Downdip Paleogene Formations 2017 Assessment Unit Boundaries and Input-Data Forms
The Assessment Unit is the fundamental unit used in the National Assessment Project for the assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources. The Assessment Unit is defined within the context of the higher-level Total Petroleum System. The Assessment Unit is shown herein as a geographic boundary interpreted, defined, and mapped by the geologist responsible for the province and incorporates a set o
Filter Total Items: 25
A residual oil zone (ROZ) assessment methodology with application to the central basin platform (Permian Basin, USA) for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and long-term geologic CO2 storage
Residual oil zones (ROZ) form due to various geologic conditions and are located below the oil/water contact (OWC) of main pay zones (MPZ). Since ROZs usually contain immobile oil, they have not typically been considered commercially attractive for development by conventional primary recovery methods used in the initial phases of oil production. However, during the last decade some operators of th
Authors
C. Özgen Karacan, Sean T. Brennan, Marc L. Buursink, Philip A. Freeman, Celeste D. Lohr, Matthew D. Merrill, Ricardo A. Olea, Peter D. Warwick
Geologic energy storage
Introduction As the United States transitions away from fossil fuels, its economy will rely on more renewable energy. Because current renewable energy sources sometimes produce variable power supplies, it is important to store energy for use when power supply drops below power demand. Battery storage is one method to store power. However, geologic (underground) energy storage may be able to retain
Authors
Marc L. Buursink, Steven T. Anderson, Sean T. Brennan, Erick R. Burns, Philip A. Freeman, Joao S. Gallotti, Celeste D. Lohr, Matthew D. Merrill, Eric A. Morrissey, Michelle R. Plampin, Peter D. Warwick
National assessment of carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery and associated carbon dioxide retention resources — Summary
IntroductionIn 2020, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) completed a probabilistic assessment of the volume of technically recoverable oil resources that might be produced by using current carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery (CO2-EOR) technologies in amenable conventional oil reservoirs underlying the onshore and State waters areas of the conterminous United States. The assessment also includes est
Authors
Peter D. Warwick, Emil D. Attanasi, Madalyn S. Blondes, Sean T. Brennan, Marc L. Buursink, Steven M. Cahan, Colin A. Doolan, Philip A. Freeman, C. Özgen Karacan, Celeste D. Lohr, Matthew D. Merrill, Ricardo A. Olea, Jenna L. Shelton, Ernie R. Slucher, Brian A. Varela
National assessment of carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery and associated carbon dioxide retention resources — Results
In 2020, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) completed a probabilistic assessment of the volume of technically recoverable oil resources available if current carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery (CO2-EOR) technologies were applied to amenable oil reservoirs underlying the onshore and State waters areas of the conterminous United States. The assessment also includes estimates of the mass of CO2 that
Authors
Peter D. Warwick, Emil D. Attanasi, Madalyn S. Blondes, Sean T. Brennan, Marc L. Buursink, Steven M. Cahan, Colin A. Doolan, Philip A. Freeman, C. Özgen Karacan, Celeste D. Lohr, Matthew D. Merrill, Ricardo A. Olea, Jenna L. Shelton, Ernie R. Slucher, Brian A. Varela
Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources in the Central North Slope of Alaska, 2020
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 3.6 billion barrels of oil and 8.9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas (associated and nonassociated) in conventional accumulations in Mississippian through Paleogene strata in the central North Slope of Alaska.
Authors
David W. Houseknecht, Katherine J. Whidden, Christopher D. Connors, Richard O. Lease, Christopher J. Schenk, Tracey J. Mercier, William A. Rouse, Palma J. Botterell, Rebecca A. Smith, Margaret M. Sanders, William H. Craddock, Christina A. DeVera, Christopher P. Garrity, Marc L. Buursink, C. Özgen Karacan, Samuel J. Heller, Thomas E. Moore, Julie A. Dumoulin, Marilyn E. Tennyson, Katherine L. French, Cheryl A. Woodall, Ronald M. Drake, Kristen R. Marra, Thomas M. Finn, Scott A. Kinney, Chilisa M. Shorten
Carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery and residual oil zone studies at the U.S. Geological Survey
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is preparing a national resource assessment of the potential hydrocarbons recoverable after injection of carbon dioxide (CO2) into conventional oil reservoirs in the United States. The implementation of CO2-enhanced oil recovery (CO2-EOR) techniques can increase hydrocarbon production, and lead to incidental retention of CO2 in reservoir pore space allowing long-t
Authors
Peter D. Warwick, Emil D. Attanasi, Madalyn S. Blondes, Sean T. Brennan, Marc L. Buursink, Colin A. Doolan, Philip A. Freeman, Hossein Jahediesfanjani, C. Özgen Karacan, Celeste D. Lohr, Matthew D. Merrill, Ricardo A. Olea, Jacqueline N. Roueché, Jenna L. Shelton, Ernie Slucher, Brian A. Varela, Mahendra K. Verma
Geologic framework for the national assessment of carbon dioxide storage resources—Atlantic Coastal Plain and Eastern Mesozoic Rift Basins
This chapter presents information pertinent to the geologic carbon dioxide (CO2) sequestration potential within saline aquifers located in the Atlantic Coastal Plain and Eastern Mesozoic Rift Basins of the Eastern United States. The Atlantic Coastal Plain is underlain by a Jurassic to Quaternary succession of sedimentary strata that onlap westward onto strata of the Appalachian Piedmont physiograp
Authors
William H. Craddock, Matthew D. Merrill, Tina L. Roberts-Ashby, Sean T. Brennan, Marc L. Buursink, Ronald M. Drake, Peter D. Warwick, Steven M. Cahan, Christina A. DeVera, Philip A. Freeman, Mayur A. Gosai, Celeste D. Lohr
Assessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources in the downdip Paleogene formations, U.S. Gulf Coast, 2017
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated mean undiscovered, technically recoverable conventional resources of 100 million barrels of oil and 16.5 trillion cubic feet of gas in the downdip Paleogene formations in onshore lands and State waters of the U.S. Gulf Coast region.
Authors
Marc L. Buursink, Colin A. Doolan, Catherine B. Enomoto, William H. Craddock, James L. Coleman, Michael E. Brownfield, Stephanie B. Gaswirth, Timothy R. Klett, Phuong A. Le, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Kristen R. Marra, Tracey J. Mercier, Ofori N. Pearson, Janet K. Pitman, Christopher J. Schenk, Marilyn E. Tennyson, Katherine J. Whidden, Cheryl A. Woodall
Geologic framework for the national assessment of carbon dioxide storage resources—Southern Rocky Mountain Basins: Chapter M in Geologic framework for the national assessment of carbon dioxide storage resources
The U.S. Geological Survey has completed an assessment of the potential geologic carbon dioxide storage resources in the onshore areas of the United States. To provide geological context and input data sources for the resources numbers, framework documents are being prepared for all areas that were investigated as part of the national assessment. This report, chapter M, is the geologic framework d
Authors
Matthew D. Merrill, Ronald M. Drake, Marc L. Buursink, William H. Craddock, Joseph A. East, Ernie R. Slucher, Peter D. Warwick, Sean T. Brennan, Madalyn S. Blondes, Philip A. Freeman, Steven M. Cahan, Christina A. DeVera, Celeste D. Lohr
National assessment of geologic carbon dioxide storage resources: allocations of assessed areas to Federal lands
Following the geologic basin-scale assessment of technically accessible carbon dioxide storage resources in onshore areas and State waters of the United States, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated that an area of about 130 million acres (or about 200,000 square miles) of Federal lands overlies these storage resources. Consequently, about 18 percent of the assessed area associated with storage res
Authors
Marc L. Buursink, Steven M. Cahan, Peter D. Warwick
Geologic framework for the national assessment of carbon dioxide storage resources: Williston Basin, Central Montana Basins, and Montana Thrust Belt study areas
The 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act directs the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to conduct a national assessment of potential geologic storage resources for carbon dioxide (CO2). The methodology used by the USGS for the national CO2 assessment follows that of previous USGS work. This methodology is non-economic and is intended to be used at regional to sub-basinal scales.
The Williston Bas
Authors
Marc L. Buursink, Matthew D. Merrill, William H. Craddock, Tina L. Roberts-Ashby, Sean T. Brennan, Madalyn S. Blondes, P.A. Freeman, Steven M. Cahan, Christina A. DeVera, Celeste D. Lohr
Geologic framework for the national assessment of carbon dioxide storage resources: Alaska North Slope and Kandik Basin, Alaska
This report presents fourteen storage assessment units (SAUs) from the Alaska North Slope and two SAUs from the Kandik Basin of Alaska. The Alaska North Slope is a broad, north-dipping coastal plain that is underlain by a thick succession of sedimentary rocks that accumulated steadily throughout much of the Phanerozoic during three major tectonic sequences: the Mississippian through Triassic Elles
Authors
William H. Craddock, Marc L. Buursink, Jacob A. Covault, Sean T. Brennan, Colin A. Doolan, Ronald M. Drake, Matthew D. Merrill, Tina L. Roberts-Ashby, Ernie R. Slucher, Peter D. Warwick, Madalyn S. Blondes, P.A. Freeman, Steven M. Cahan, Christina A. DeVera, Celeste D. Lohr
Science and Products
- Science
Geologic Energy Storage
The United States (U.S.) domestic energy supply increasingly relies on natural gas and renewable sources; however, their efficient use is limited by supply and demand constraints. For example, a) in summer, natural gas production may outpace home heating fuel demand and b) in daytime, wind and solar electricity production may outpace industrial power requirements. Storing rather than dumping... - Data
United States Gulf Coast Basin Curated Wells and Logs Database
The United States Gulf Coast Basin Curated Wells and Logs Database (CWLDB) is an online repository with stratigraphic information for petroleum wells in the United States portion of the onshore Gulf of Mexico Basin that provides several of the following attributes: a) deep penetrations (generally, total depth of 10,000 feet or more), b) high quality and diverse geophysical well log suites, c) lithNational assessment of carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery and associated carbon dioxide retention resources - data release
In 2020, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) completed a probabilistic assessment of the volume of technically recoverable oil resources available if current carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery (CO2-EOR) technologies were applied in amenable oil reservoirs underlying the onshore and State waters area of the conterminous United States. The assessment also includes estimates of the magnitude of CO2 sUSGS Gulf Coast Petroleum Systems, and National and Global Oil and Gas Assessment Projects - U.S. Gulf Coast Downdip Paleogene Formations 2017 Assessment Unit Boundaries and Input-Data Forms
The Assessment Unit is the fundamental unit used in the National Assessment Project for the assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources. The Assessment Unit is defined within the context of the higher-level Total Petroleum System. The Assessment Unit is shown herein as a geographic boundary interpreted, defined, and mapped by the geologist responsible for the province and incorporates a set o - Multimedia
- Publications
Filter Total Items: 25
A residual oil zone (ROZ) assessment methodology with application to the central basin platform (Permian Basin, USA) for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and long-term geologic CO2 storage
Residual oil zones (ROZ) form due to various geologic conditions and are located below the oil/water contact (OWC) of main pay zones (MPZ). Since ROZs usually contain immobile oil, they have not typically been considered commercially attractive for development by conventional primary recovery methods used in the initial phases of oil production. However, during the last decade some operators of thAuthorsC. Özgen Karacan, Sean T. Brennan, Marc L. Buursink, Philip A. Freeman, Celeste D. Lohr, Matthew D. Merrill, Ricardo A. Olea, Peter D. WarwickGeologic energy storage
Introduction As the United States transitions away from fossil fuels, its economy will rely on more renewable energy. Because current renewable energy sources sometimes produce variable power supplies, it is important to store energy for use when power supply drops below power demand. Battery storage is one method to store power. However, geologic (underground) energy storage may be able to retainAuthorsMarc L. Buursink, Steven T. Anderson, Sean T. Brennan, Erick R. Burns, Philip A. Freeman, Joao S. Gallotti, Celeste D. Lohr, Matthew D. Merrill, Eric A. Morrissey, Michelle R. Plampin, Peter D. WarwickNational assessment of carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery and associated carbon dioxide retention resources — Summary
IntroductionIn 2020, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) completed a probabilistic assessment of the volume of technically recoverable oil resources that might be produced by using current carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery (CO2-EOR) technologies in amenable conventional oil reservoirs underlying the onshore and State waters areas of the conterminous United States. The assessment also includes estAuthorsPeter D. Warwick, Emil D. Attanasi, Madalyn S. Blondes, Sean T. Brennan, Marc L. Buursink, Steven M. Cahan, Colin A. Doolan, Philip A. Freeman, C. Özgen Karacan, Celeste D. Lohr, Matthew D. Merrill, Ricardo A. Olea, Jenna L. Shelton, Ernie R. Slucher, Brian A. VarelaNational assessment of carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery and associated carbon dioxide retention resources — Results
In 2020, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) completed a probabilistic assessment of the volume of technically recoverable oil resources available if current carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery (CO2-EOR) technologies were applied to amenable oil reservoirs underlying the onshore and State waters areas of the conterminous United States. The assessment also includes estimates of the mass of CO2 thatAuthorsPeter D. Warwick, Emil D. Attanasi, Madalyn S. Blondes, Sean T. Brennan, Marc L. Buursink, Steven M. Cahan, Colin A. Doolan, Philip A. Freeman, C. Özgen Karacan, Celeste D. Lohr, Matthew D. Merrill, Ricardo A. Olea, Jenna L. Shelton, Ernie R. Slucher, Brian A. VarelaAssessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources in the Central North Slope of Alaska, 2020
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 3.6 billion barrels of oil and 8.9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas (associated and nonassociated) in conventional accumulations in Mississippian through Paleogene strata in the central North Slope of Alaska.AuthorsDavid W. Houseknecht, Katherine J. Whidden, Christopher D. Connors, Richard O. Lease, Christopher J. Schenk, Tracey J. Mercier, William A. Rouse, Palma J. Botterell, Rebecca A. Smith, Margaret M. Sanders, William H. Craddock, Christina A. DeVera, Christopher P. Garrity, Marc L. Buursink, C. Özgen Karacan, Samuel J. Heller, Thomas E. Moore, Julie A. Dumoulin, Marilyn E. Tennyson, Katherine L. French, Cheryl A. Woodall, Ronald M. Drake, Kristen R. Marra, Thomas M. Finn, Scott A. Kinney, Chilisa M. ShortenCarbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery and residual oil zone studies at the U.S. Geological Survey
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is preparing a national resource assessment of the potential hydrocarbons recoverable after injection of carbon dioxide (CO2) into conventional oil reservoirs in the United States. The implementation of CO2-enhanced oil recovery (CO2-EOR) techniques can increase hydrocarbon production, and lead to incidental retention of CO2 in reservoir pore space allowing long-tAuthorsPeter D. Warwick, Emil D. Attanasi, Madalyn S. Blondes, Sean T. Brennan, Marc L. Buursink, Colin A. Doolan, Philip A. Freeman, Hossein Jahediesfanjani, C. Özgen Karacan, Celeste D. Lohr, Matthew D. Merrill, Ricardo A. Olea, Jacqueline N. Roueché, Jenna L. Shelton, Ernie Slucher, Brian A. Varela, Mahendra K. VermaGeologic framework for the national assessment of carbon dioxide storage resources—Atlantic Coastal Plain and Eastern Mesozoic Rift Basins
This chapter presents information pertinent to the geologic carbon dioxide (CO2) sequestration potential within saline aquifers located in the Atlantic Coastal Plain and Eastern Mesozoic Rift Basins of the Eastern United States. The Atlantic Coastal Plain is underlain by a Jurassic to Quaternary succession of sedimentary strata that onlap westward onto strata of the Appalachian Piedmont physiograpAuthorsWilliam H. Craddock, Matthew D. Merrill, Tina L. Roberts-Ashby, Sean T. Brennan, Marc L. Buursink, Ronald M. Drake, Peter D. Warwick, Steven M. Cahan, Christina A. DeVera, Philip A. Freeman, Mayur A. Gosai, Celeste D. LohrAssessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources in the downdip Paleogene formations, U.S. Gulf Coast, 2017
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated mean undiscovered, technically recoverable conventional resources of 100 million barrels of oil and 16.5 trillion cubic feet of gas in the downdip Paleogene formations in onshore lands and State waters of the U.S. Gulf Coast region.AuthorsMarc L. Buursink, Colin A. Doolan, Catherine B. Enomoto, William H. Craddock, James L. Coleman, Michael E. Brownfield, Stephanie B. Gaswirth, Timothy R. Klett, Phuong A. Le, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Kristen R. Marra, Tracey J. Mercier, Ofori N. Pearson, Janet K. Pitman, Christopher J. Schenk, Marilyn E. Tennyson, Katherine J. Whidden, Cheryl A. WoodallGeologic framework for the national assessment of carbon dioxide storage resources—Southern Rocky Mountain Basins: Chapter M in Geologic framework for the national assessment of carbon dioxide storage resources
The U.S. Geological Survey has completed an assessment of the potential geologic carbon dioxide storage resources in the onshore areas of the United States. To provide geological context and input data sources for the resources numbers, framework documents are being prepared for all areas that were investigated as part of the national assessment. This report, chapter M, is the geologic framework d
AuthorsMatthew D. Merrill, Ronald M. Drake, Marc L. Buursink, William H. Craddock, Joseph A. East, Ernie R. Slucher, Peter D. Warwick, Sean T. Brennan, Madalyn S. Blondes, Philip A. Freeman, Steven M. Cahan, Christina A. DeVera, Celeste D. LohrNational assessment of geologic carbon dioxide storage resources: allocations of assessed areas to Federal lands
Following the geologic basin-scale assessment of technically accessible carbon dioxide storage resources in onshore areas and State waters of the United States, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated that an area of about 130 million acres (or about 200,000 square miles) of Federal lands overlies these storage resources. Consequently, about 18 percent of the assessed area associated with storage resAuthorsMarc L. Buursink, Steven M. Cahan, Peter D. WarwickGeologic framework for the national assessment of carbon dioxide storage resources: Williston Basin, Central Montana Basins, and Montana Thrust Belt study areas
The 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act directs the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to conduct a national assessment of potential geologic storage resources for carbon dioxide (CO2). The methodology used by the USGS for the national CO2 assessment follows that of previous USGS work. This methodology is non-economic and is intended to be used at regional to sub-basinal scales. The Williston BasAuthorsMarc L. Buursink, Matthew D. Merrill, William H. Craddock, Tina L. Roberts-Ashby, Sean T. Brennan, Madalyn S. Blondes, P.A. Freeman, Steven M. Cahan, Christina A. DeVera, Celeste D. LohrGeologic framework for the national assessment of carbon dioxide storage resources: Alaska North Slope and Kandik Basin, Alaska
This report presents fourteen storage assessment units (SAUs) from the Alaska North Slope and two SAUs from the Kandik Basin of Alaska. The Alaska North Slope is a broad, north-dipping coastal plain that is underlain by a thick succession of sedimentary rocks that accumulated steadily throughout much of the Phanerozoic during three major tectonic sequences: the Mississippian through Triassic EllesAuthorsWilliam H. Craddock, Marc L. Buursink, Jacob A. Covault, Sean T. Brennan, Colin A. Doolan, Ronald M. Drake, Matthew D. Merrill, Tina L. Roberts-Ashby, Ernie R. Slucher, Peter D. Warwick, Madalyn S. Blondes, P.A. Freeman, Steven M. Cahan, Christina A. DeVera, Celeste D. Lohr
*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