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| Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimates a mean of 21 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered natural
gas and a mean of 60 million barrels of undiscovered oil in the Uinta-Piceance Province. Nearly all of the undiscovered gas resource is unconventional (continuous). |
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| 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 geology based and uses the Total
Petroleum System concept. The geologic elements of Total Petroleum
Systems 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 (table
1). |
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| Resource Summary |
| The USGS assessed undiscovered conventional oil and gas and continuous
(unconventional) oil and gas, including coal-bed gas (CBG in table
1). The USGS estimated a mean of 21 trillion cubic feet of gas
(TCFG), a mean of 60 million barrels of oil (MMBO), and a mean of
43 million barrels of natural gas liquids (MMBNGL) in fi ve Total
Petroleum Systems. Nearly all of the undiscovered gas resource is
continuous (unconventional) rather than conventional. 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
are estimated to contain 2.3 TCFG of coal-bed gas. The Phosphoria
and Green River Total Petroleum Systems contain the balance of the
undiscovered gas resource. |
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| For Further Information |
Supporting geologic studies of Total Petroleum Systems and Assessment Units, and reports on the methodology used in the Uinta-Piceance Province assessment are in progress.
Assessment results are available at the USGS Central Energy Team website:
http://energy.cr.usgs.gov/oilgas/noga/ |
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Figure 1.Uinta-Piceance Province located in northwestern Colorado and northeastern Utah. The Douglas Creek arch separates
Piceance Basin from Uinta Basin. The Wasatch Plateau is included in this province.
| Uinta-Piceance Assessment
Team: |
| Mark A. Kirschbaum (Task Leader; mkirsch@usgs.gov); Larry Anna, Timothy S. Collett, Troy Cook, Russell F. Dubiel, Thomas M. Finn, Robert D. Hettinger, Mitchell Henry, Edward A. Johnson,
Ronald C. Johnson, Paul G. Lillis, Philip H. Nelson, Vito F. Nuccio, Cynthia A. Rice, Laura N.R. Roberts, and Stephen B. Roberts. |
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