Assessment of Undiscovered Oil and Gas Resources of the Illinois Basin, 2007

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Introduction

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has completed an assessment of the undiscovered oil and gas potential of the Illinois Basin (fig. 1). The assessed area includes parts of the States of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, and Tennessee. The assessment is based on the geologic elements of each total petroleum system (TPS) defined in the basin. These geologic elements include the hydrocarbon source rocks, reservoir rocks, and hydrocarbon traps. By using this geologic framework, the USGS defined 4 total petroleum systems and 19 assessment units (AUs) within the basin and estimated the quantity of undiscovered technically recoverable oil and gas resources within 14 of the 19 AUs (table 1).