Chapter 1 Executive Summary Undiscovered Oil and Gas Resources of the Uinta-Piceance Province of Utah and Colorado, 2002 By USGS Uinta-Piceance Assessment Team

Chapter 1 of
Petroleum Systems and Geologic Assessment of Oil and Gas in the
Uinta-Piceance Province, Utah and Colorado
By USGS Uinta-Piceance Assessment Team

U.S. Geological Survey Digital Data Series DDS-69-B
Version 1.0
2003
 
 
 

U.S. Department of the Interior
Gale A. Norton, Secretary
U.S. Geological Survey
Charles G. Groat, Director

For sale by U.S. Geological Survey, Information Services Box 25286, Denver Federal Center Denver, CO 80225
Any use of trade, product, or firm names in this publication is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government
Published in the Central Region, Denver, Colorado
Manuscript approved for publication July 24, 2002
ISBN=0-607-99359-6

Contents

Introduction
Resources Assessed
Resource Summary
Uinta-Piceance Province Assessment Team
Reference Cited
Figures
     1. Map showing location of Uinta-Piceance Province in northeastern Utah and northwestern Colorado
     2. Schematic diagram of the types of oil and gas resources assessed in provinces of the United States
Table
     1. Uinta-Piceance Province assessment results.
 

Executive Summary—Assessment of Undiscovered Oil and Gas Resources of the Uinta-Piceance Province of Utah and Colorado, 2002 By USGS Uinta-Piceance Assessment Team Introduction The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) recently completed an assessment of the undiscovered oil and gas potential of the Uinta-Piceance Province of northwestern Colorado and northeastern Utah (fig. 1). The assessment of the Uinta-Piceance Province is based on geologic principles and uses the total petroleum system concept. The geologic elements of a total petroleum system include hydrocarbon source rocks (source rock maturation, hydrocarbon generation and migration), reservoir rocks (sequence stratigraphy, petrophysical properties), and hydrocarbon traps (trap formation and timing). Using this geologic framework, the USGS defined five total petroleum systems and 20 assessment units within these total petroleum systems, and quantitatively estimated the undiscovered oil and gas resources within each assessment unit. Resources Assessed  For each province in the United States that is to be assessed, the USGS assesses conventional and continuous oil and gas resources (fig. 2). Conventional oil and gas accumulations are defined as having discrete geographic entities with well-delineated hydrocarbon-water contacts. Conventional fields typically have relatively high matrix permeabilities, obvious seals and traps, and high recovery factors. Continuous accumulations (also called Figure 1. Uinta-Piceance Province in northeastern Utah and northwestern Colorado. Douglas Creek  arch separates Piceance Basin from Uinta Basin. Wasatch Plateau is included in this province.   Figure 2. Schematic diagram of the types of oil and gas resources assessed in provinces of the United States.  unconventional, tight sandstones, or basin-centered accumulations) are regional in extent; have diffuse boundaries; commonly have low matrix permeabilities; do not have obvious seals and traps, or hydrocarbon-water contacts; are abnormally pressured; are in close proximity to source rocks; and have very low recovery factors (Schenk and Pollastro, 2002). For this study, coalbed gas is considered to be a type of continuous accumulation (Schenk and Pollastro, 2002). Continuous accumulations commonly have transition zones that grade into more conventional accumulations.  Resource Summary  The USGS assessed undiscovered conventional and continuous oil and gas, including coalbed gas, in 20 assessment units in five total petroleum systems (table 1). The USGS estimated a mean of about 21 trillion cubic feet of gas (TCFG), a mean of about 59 million barrels of oil (MMBO), and a mean of about 43 million barrels of natural gas liquids (MMBNGL). Nearly all of the undiscovered gas resource is estimated to be in continuous reservoirs rather than in conventional reservoirs. Of the 21 TCFG, 13 TCFG is estimated to be in the Mesaverde Total Petroleum System, and 7 TCFG is in the Mancos/Mowry Total Petroleum System. The Ferron/Wasatch Plateau Total Petroleum System and Mesaverde Total Petroleum System together are estimated to contain 2.3 TCF of coalbed gas. The Phosphoria and Green River Total Petroleum Systems contain the balance of the undiscovered gas resource. Of the total undiscovered oil, about 65 percent is continuous oil in the Green River Total Petroleum System in the deep Uinta Basin; the remainder is oil in conventional accumulations in the Green River and Phosphoria Total Petroleum Systems. Uinta-Piceance Province Assessment Team Members of the team, in alphabetical order, are: Larry Anna, Ronald R. Charpentier, Timothy S. Collett, Troy Cook, Robert Crovelli, Russell F. Dubiel, Thomas M. Finn, Mitchell Henry, Robert D. Hettinger, Edward A. Johnson, Ronald C. Johnson, Mark A. Kirschbaum, Timothy R. Klett, Paul G. Lillis, Philip H. Nelson, Vito F. Nuccio, Cynthia A. Rice, Laura N. Roberts, Stephen B. Roberts, Christopher J. Schenk, and J.W. Schmoker. Reference Cited Schenk, C.J., and Pollastro, R.M., 2002, Natural gas production in the United States: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet FS-113-01, January 2002. [Also available at URL http://geology.cr.usgs.gov/pub/fact-sheets/fs-0113-01/]

 

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		Table 1. Uinta-Piceance Province assessment results.
		[MMBO, million barrels of oil; BCFG, billion cubic feet of gas; MMBNGL, million barrels of natural gas liquids. Results
		Results shown are fully risked estimates. For gas fields, all liquids are included under the NGL (natural gas liquids) category
		Undiscovered gas resources are the sum of non-associated and associated gas. F95 represents a 95 percent chance of
		at least the amount tabulated. Other fractiles are defined similarly. Fractiles are additive under the assumption of perfect
		positive correlation. Gray shade indicates not applicable. CBG is coalbed gas.]
		Total Petroleum Systems  (TPS)  and Assessment Units (AU)		Field Type	Total  Undiscovered Resources
					Oil (MMBO)				Gas (BCFG)				NGL (MMBNGL)
					F95	F50	F5	Mean	F95	F50	F5	Mean	F95	F50	F5	Mean
		Phosphoria TPS
		Hanging Wall AU		Oil	1.75	4.13	8.37	4.47	0.47	1.21	2.67	1.34	0.03	0.07	0.17	0.08
				Gas					10.48	24.78	50.27	26.81	0.30	0.78	1.70	0.86
		Paleozoic/Mesozoic AU		Oil	2.66	5.82	11.55	6.29	0.71	1.70	3.69	1.89	0.04	0.10	0.23	0.11
				Gas					15.82	43.74	94.30	48.04	0.47	1.36	3.21	1.54
		Ferron/Wasatch Plateau TPS
		Ferron Sandstone Gas AU		Gas					10.73	35.91	81.23	39.75	0.03	0.07	0.19	0.08
		Mesaverde TPS
		Mesaverde Sandstone Gas AU		Gas					17.91	58.95	140.12	66.41	0.13	0.46	1.18	0.53
		Green River TPS
		Uinta Green River Oil and Gas AU		Oil	2.74	9.14	20.52	9.63	7.59	24.83	63.73	28.88	0.42	1.45	3.98	1.73
		Total Conventional Resources			7.15	19.09	40.44	20.39	63.71	191.12	436..01	213.12	1.42	4.29	10.66	4.93
		Mancos/Mowry TPS
		Piceance Basin AU		Gas					649.30	1,463.09	3,296.86	1,652.90	0.60	1.43	3.45	1.65
		Uinta Basin AU		Gas					1,781.69	2,965.07	4,934.43	3,110.69	3.16	5.81	10.67	6.22
		Uinta-Piceance Transitional and Migrated Gas AU		Gas					1,429.61	1,742.59	2,124.11	1,755.26	0.74	1.98	5.31	2.37
		Ferron/Wasatch Plateau TPS
		Deep (>6000 feet) Coal and Sandstone AU		Gas					0.00	52.04	136.43	59.10	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
		Northern Coal Fairway/ Drunkards Wash AU		CBG					451.14	722.18	1,156.05	752.33	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
		Central Coal Fairway/ Buzzards Bench AU		CBG					311.61	512.69	843.54	536.73	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
		Southern Coal Fairway AU		CBG					78.16	145.81	255.49	152.59	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
		Southern Coal Outcrop AU		CBG					0.00	9.95	30.71	10.56	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
		Mesaverde TPS
		Uinta Basin Continuous AU		Gas					4,134.18	7,018.47	11,915.02	7,391.36	5.52	10.31	19.27	11.09
		Uinta Basin Transitional AU		Gas					889.42	1,431.73	2,304.72	1,492.97	1.18	2.10	3.76	2.24
		Piceance Basin Continuous AU		Gas					1,902.23	2,956.15	4,594.01	3,064.27	5.00	8.69	15.09	9.19
		Piceance Basin Transitional AU		Gas					161.74	284.47	500.33	301.73	0.29	0.56	1.07	0.60
		Uinta Basin Blackhawk Coalbed Gas AU		CBG					181.97	433.84	1,034.28	498.78	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
		Mesaverde Group Coalbed Gas AU		CBG					138.72	322.45	749.54	367.77	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
		Green River TPS
		Deep Uinta Overpressured Continuous Oil AU		Oil	24.83	37.57	56.84	38.78	35.72	60.74	103.29	63.99	2.23	4.17	7.79	4.48
		Total Continuous Resources			24.83	37.57	56.84	38.78	12,145.49	20,121.27	33,978.81	21,211.03	18.72	35.05	66.41	37.84
		Total Undiscovered Oil and Gas Resources			31.99	56.66	97.28	59.17	12,209.20	20,312.39	34,414.82	21,424.15	20.14	39.34	77.07	42.77

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