Ronald C Johnson (Former Employee)
Science and Products
Oil Shale
The USGS Energy Resources Program has studied oil shale resources of the United States, with a significant effort on the Eocene Green River Formation of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. This formation contains the largest oil shale deposits in the world. Oil shale, despite the name, does not actually contain oil, but is a precursor of oil that is converted to crude oil when heated.
Mineral Occurrence data for the Eocene Green River Formation in the Piceance and Uinta Basins
This legacy database lists occurrences of minerals identified in the Green River Formation in the Uinta and Piceance Basins, Utah and Colorado using X-ray diffraction (XRD). The database was compiled from data collected by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and former U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM). The database includes 1200 samples from 14 cores in the Uinta Basin and 9443 samples from 30 cores in t
USGS National Assessment of Oil and Gas Project - Uteland Butte Assessment Units
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: 32
Detailed north-south cross section showing environments of deposition, organic richness, and thermal maturities of lower Tertiary rocks in the Uinta Basin, Utah
The Uinta Basin of northeast Utah has produced large amounts of hydrocarbons from lower Tertiary strata since the 1960s. Recent advances in drilling technologies, in particular the development of efficient methods to drill and hydraulically fracture horizontal wells, has spurred renewed interest in producing hydrocarbons from unconventional low-permeability dolomite and shale reservoirs in the lac
Detailed cross sections of the Eocene Green River Formation along the north and east margins of the Piceance Basin, western Colorado, using measured sections and drill hole information
This report presents two detailed cross sections of the Eocene Green River Formation in the Piceance Basin, northwestern Colorado, constructed from eight detailed measured sections, fourteen core holes, and two rotary holes. The Eocene Green River Formation in the Piceance Basin contains the world’s largest known oil shale deposit with more than 1.5 billion barrels of oil in place. It was deposite
Geologic map of the Philadelphia Creek Quadrangle, Rio Blanco County, Colorado
No abstract available.
Thermal maturity map of the lower part of the Upper Cretaceous Mesaverde Group, Uintah Basin, Utah
The ability of rock to generate oil and gas is directly related to the type and quantity of kerogen and to its thermal maturity; therefore, thermal maturity is a commonly used tool for oil and gas exploration. The purpose of this study ws to provide a thermal-maturity map for the lower part of the Upper Cretaceous Mesaverde Group in the eastern part of the Uinta Basin. Prior to this study, therm
Preliminary geologic map of the Baxter Pass quadrangle, Garfield County, Colorado
No abstract available.
Filter Total Items: 79
Assessment of undiscovered continuous tight-gas resources in the Mesaverde Group and Wasatch Formation, Uinta-Piceance Province, Utah and Colorado, 2018
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 24 trillion cubic feet of gas in the Mesaverde Group and Wasatch Formation of the Uinta-Piceance Province in northeast Utah and northwest Colorado.
Authors
Ronald M. Drake, Christopher J. Schenk, Tracey J. Mercier, Phuong A. Le, Thomas M. Finn, Ronald C. Johnson, Cheryl A. Woodall, Stephanie B. Gaswirth, Kristen R. Marra, Janet K. Pitman, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Seth S. Haines, Marilyn E. Tennyson
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 for rocks yielding at least 25 gallons per ton, GPT)
Authors
Justin E. Birdwell, Ronald C. Johnson, Michael E. Brownfield
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 49 Ma) causing Lake Gosiute to freshen. Once Lake
Authors
Ronald C. Johnson, Justin E. Birdwell, Michael E. Brownfield, Tracey J. Mercier, Paula L. Hansley
Controls on organic matter distributions in Eocene Lake Uinta, Utah and Colorado
The Green River Formation deposited in Eocene Lake Uinta in the Uinta and Piceance Basins, Utah and Colorado, contains the largest oil shale resource in the world with an estimated 1.53 trillion barrels of oil in-place in the Piceance Basin and 1.32 trillion barrels in the Uinta Basin. The Douglas Creek arch, a slowly subsiding hinge-line between the two basins, created separate deep depocenters w
Authors
Ronald C. Johnson, Tracey J. Mercier, Justin E. Birdwell
Stratigraphic intervals for oil and tar sands deposits in the Uinta Basin, Utah
No abstract available.
Authors
Ronald C. Johnson, Justin E. Birdwell, Paul G. Lillis
Geological, geochemical, and reservoir characterization of the Uteland Butte member of the Green River Formation, Uinta Basin, Utah
No abstract available.
Authors
Justin E. Birdwell, Michael D. Vanden Berg, Ronald C. Johnson, Tracey J. Mercier, Adam Boehlke, Michael E. Brownfield
Evolution of the Lower Tertiary Elko Lake Basin, a potential hydrocarbon source rock in Northeast Nevada
No abstract available.
Authors
Ronald C. Johnson, Justin E. Birdwell
Generation and migration of Bitumen and oil from the oil shale interval of the Eocene Green River formation, Uinta Basin, Utah
The results from the recent U.S. Geological Survey assessment of in-place oil shale resources of the Eocene Green River Formation, based primarily on the Fischer assay method, are applied herein to define areas where the oil shale interval is depleted of some of its petroleum-generating potential along the deep structural trough of the basin and to make: (1) a general estimates of the amount of th
Authors
Ronald C. Johnson, Justin E. Birdwell, Tracey J. Mercier
Geology of tight oil and potential tight oil reservoirs in the lower part of the Green River Formation, Uinta, Piceance, and Greater Green River Basins, Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming
The recent successful development of a tight oil play in the Eocene-age informal Uteland Butte member of the lacustrine Green River Formation in the Uinta Basin, Utah, using modern horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing techniques has spurred a renewed interest in the tight oil potential of lacustrine rocks. The Green River Formation was deposited by two large lakes, Lake Uinta in the Uinta
Authors
Ronald C. Johnson, Justin E. Birdwell, Tracey J. Mercier, Michael E. Brownfield
Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources in the Uteland Butte Member of the Eocene Green River Formation, Uinta Basin, Utah
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated mean undiscovered resources of 214 million barrels of oil, 329 billion cubic feet of associated/dissolved natural gas, and 14 million barrels of natural gas liquids in the informal Uteland Butte member of the Green River Formation, Uinta Basin, Utah.
Authors
Ronald C. Johnson, Justin E. Birdwell, Tracey J. Mercier, Michael E. Brownfield, Ronald R. Charpentier, Timothy R. Klett, Heidi M. Leathers, Christopher J. Schenk, Marilyn E. Tennyson
Updated tops file for Cretaceous and lower Tertiary units, Piceance Basin, northwest Colorado
Introduction
Depths to selected Cretaceous and lower Tertiary stratigraphic units in the Piceance Basin, northwestern Colorado are presented here for 1,563 wells. This file is updated from the Piceance Basin Oil Shale Database with data for additional new drill holes. Also included in this report are elevations for the base of the Long Point Bed of the Eocene Green River Formation for 347 surface
Authors
Ronald C. Johnson, John D. Dietrich, Tracey J. Mercier
Mass-movement deposits in the lacustrine Eocene Green River Formation, Piceance Basin, western Colorado
The Eocene Green River Formation was deposited in two large Eocene saline lakes, Lake Uinta in the Uinta and Piceance Basins and Lake Gosiute in the Greater Green River Basin. Here we will discuss mass-movement deposits in just the Piceance Basin part of Lake Uinta.
Authors
Ronald C. Johnson, Justin E. Birdwell, Michael E. Brownfield, Tracey J. Mercier
Science and Products
Oil Shale
The USGS Energy Resources Program has studied oil shale resources of the United States, with a significant effort on the Eocene Green River Formation of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. This formation contains the largest oil shale deposits in the world. Oil shale, despite the name, does not actually contain oil, but is a precursor of oil that is converted to crude oil when heated.
Mineral Occurrence data for the Eocene Green River Formation in the Piceance and Uinta Basins
This legacy database lists occurrences of minerals identified in the Green River Formation in the Uinta and Piceance Basins, Utah and Colorado using X-ray diffraction (XRD). The database was compiled from data collected by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and former U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM). The database includes 1200 samples from 14 cores in the Uinta Basin and 9443 samples from 30 cores in t
USGS National Assessment of Oil and Gas Project - Uteland Butte Assessment Units
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: 32
Detailed north-south cross section showing environments of deposition, organic richness, and thermal maturities of lower Tertiary rocks in the Uinta Basin, Utah
The Uinta Basin of northeast Utah has produced large amounts of hydrocarbons from lower Tertiary strata since the 1960s. Recent advances in drilling technologies, in particular the development of efficient methods to drill and hydraulically fracture horizontal wells, has spurred renewed interest in producing hydrocarbons from unconventional low-permeability dolomite and shale reservoirs in the lac
Detailed cross sections of the Eocene Green River Formation along the north and east margins of the Piceance Basin, western Colorado, using measured sections and drill hole information
This report presents two detailed cross sections of the Eocene Green River Formation in the Piceance Basin, northwestern Colorado, constructed from eight detailed measured sections, fourteen core holes, and two rotary holes. The Eocene Green River Formation in the Piceance Basin contains the world’s largest known oil shale deposit with more than 1.5 billion barrels of oil in place. It was deposite
Geologic map of the Philadelphia Creek Quadrangle, Rio Blanco County, Colorado
No abstract available.
Thermal maturity map of the lower part of the Upper Cretaceous Mesaverde Group, Uintah Basin, Utah
The ability of rock to generate oil and gas is directly related to the type and quantity of kerogen and to its thermal maturity; therefore, thermal maturity is a commonly used tool for oil and gas exploration. The purpose of this study ws to provide a thermal-maturity map for the lower part of the Upper Cretaceous Mesaverde Group in the eastern part of the Uinta Basin. Prior to this study, therm
Preliminary geologic map of the Baxter Pass quadrangle, Garfield County, Colorado
No abstract available.
Filter Total Items: 79
Assessment of undiscovered continuous tight-gas resources in the Mesaverde Group and Wasatch Formation, Uinta-Piceance Province, Utah and Colorado, 2018
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 24 trillion cubic feet of gas in the Mesaverde Group and Wasatch Formation of the Uinta-Piceance Province in northeast Utah and northwest Colorado.
Authors
Ronald M. Drake, Christopher J. Schenk, Tracey J. Mercier, Phuong A. Le, Thomas M. Finn, Ronald C. Johnson, Cheryl A. Woodall, Stephanie B. Gaswirth, Kristen R. Marra, Janet K. Pitman, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Seth S. Haines, Marilyn E. Tennyson
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 for rocks yielding at least 25 gallons per ton, GPT)
Authors
Justin E. Birdwell, Ronald C. Johnson, Michael E. Brownfield
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 49 Ma) causing Lake Gosiute to freshen. Once Lake
Authors
Ronald C. Johnson, Justin E. Birdwell, Michael E. Brownfield, Tracey J. Mercier, Paula L. Hansley
Controls on organic matter distributions in Eocene Lake Uinta, Utah and Colorado
The Green River Formation deposited in Eocene Lake Uinta in the Uinta and Piceance Basins, Utah and Colorado, contains the largest oil shale resource in the world with an estimated 1.53 trillion barrels of oil in-place in the Piceance Basin and 1.32 trillion barrels in the Uinta Basin. The Douglas Creek arch, a slowly subsiding hinge-line between the two basins, created separate deep depocenters w
Authors
Ronald C. Johnson, Tracey J. Mercier, Justin E. Birdwell
Stratigraphic intervals for oil and tar sands deposits in the Uinta Basin, Utah
No abstract available.
Authors
Ronald C. Johnson, Justin E. Birdwell, Paul G. Lillis
Geological, geochemical, and reservoir characterization of the Uteland Butte member of the Green River Formation, Uinta Basin, Utah
No abstract available.
Authors
Justin E. Birdwell, Michael D. Vanden Berg, Ronald C. Johnson, Tracey J. Mercier, Adam Boehlke, Michael E. Brownfield
Evolution of the Lower Tertiary Elko Lake Basin, a potential hydrocarbon source rock in Northeast Nevada
No abstract available.
Authors
Ronald C. Johnson, Justin E. Birdwell
Generation and migration of Bitumen and oil from the oil shale interval of the Eocene Green River formation, Uinta Basin, Utah
The results from the recent U.S. Geological Survey assessment of in-place oil shale resources of the Eocene Green River Formation, based primarily on the Fischer assay method, are applied herein to define areas where the oil shale interval is depleted of some of its petroleum-generating potential along the deep structural trough of the basin and to make: (1) a general estimates of the amount of th
Authors
Ronald C. Johnson, Justin E. Birdwell, Tracey J. Mercier
Geology of tight oil and potential tight oil reservoirs in the lower part of the Green River Formation, Uinta, Piceance, and Greater Green River Basins, Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming
The recent successful development of a tight oil play in the Eocene-age informal Uteland Butte member of the lacustrine Green River Formation in the Uinta Basin, Utah, using modern horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing techniques has spurred a renewed interest in the tight oil potential of lacustrine rocks. The Green River Formation was deposited by two large lakes, Lake Uinta in the Uinta
Authors
Ronald C. Johnson, Justin E. Birdwell, Tracey J. Mercier, Michael E. Brownfield
Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources in the Uteland Butte Member of the Eocene Green River Formation, Uinta Basin, Utah
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated mean undiscovered resources of 214 million barrels of oil, 329 billion cubic feet of associated/dissolved natural gas, and 14 million barrels of natural gas liquids in the informal Uteland Butte member of the Green River Formation, Uinta Basin, Utah.
Authors
Ronald C. Johnson, Justin E. Birdwell, Tracey J. Mercier, Michael E. Brownfield, Ronald R. Charpentier, Timothy R. Klett, Heidi M. Leathers, Christopher J. Schenk, Marilyn E. Tennyson
Updated tops file for Cretaceous and lower Tertiary units, Piceance Basin, northwest Colorado
Introduction
Depths to selected Cretaceous and lower Tertiary stratigraphic units in the Piceance Basin, northwestern Colorado are presented here for 1,563 wells. This file is updated from the Piceance Basin Oil Shale Database with data for additional new drill holes. Also included in this report are elevations for the base of the Long Point Bed of the Eocene Green River Formation for 347 surface
Authors
Ronald C. Johnson, John D. Dietrich, Tracey J. Mercier
Mass-movement deposits in the lacustrine Eocene Green River Formation, Piceance Basin, western Colorado
The Eocene Green River Formation was deposited in two large Eocene saline lakes, Lake Uinta in the Uinta and Piceance Basins and Lake Gosiute in the Greater Green River Basin. Here we will discuss mass-movement deposits in just the Piceance Basin part of Lake Uinta.
Authors
Ronald C. Johnson, Justin E. Birdwell, Michael E. Brownfield, Tracey J. Mercier