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Author Topic: USGS Estimates 20 Billion Barrels of Oil in Texas’ Wolfcamp Shale Formation. This is the largest estimate of continuous oil that USGS has ever assessed in the United States.  (Read 1730 times)

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Offline IsailedawayfromFR

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USGS Estimates 20 Billion Barrels of Oil in Texas’ Wolfcamp Shale Formation. This is the largest estimate of continuous oil that USGS has ever assessed in the United States.
« on: November 16, 2016, 01:04:08 pm »
Quote
The Wolfcamp shale in the Midland Basin portion of Texas’ Permian Basin province contains an estimated mean of 20 billion barrels of oil, 16 trillion cubic feet of associated natural gas, and 1.6 billion barrels of natural gas liquids, according to an assessment by the U.S. Geological Survey. This estimate is for continuous (unconventional) oil, and consists of undiscovered, technically recoverable resources.

The estimate of continuous oil in the Midland Basin Wolfcamp shale assessment is nearly three times larger than that of the 2013 USGS Bakken-Three Forks resource assessment, making this the largest estimated continuous oil accumulation that USGS has assessed in the United States to date.

“The fact that this is the largest assessment of continuous oil we have ever done just goes to show that, even in areas that have produced billions of barrels of oil, there is still the potential to find billions more,” said Walter Guidroz, program coordinator for the USGS Energy Resources Program. “Changes in technology and industry practices can have significant effects on what resources are technically recoverable, and that’s why we continue to perform resource assessments throughout the United States and the world.”


https://www.usgs.gov/news/usgs-estimates-20-billion-barrels-oil-texas-wolfcamp-shale-formation

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Offline thackney

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Re: USGS Estimates 20 Billion Barrels of Oil in Texas’ Wolfcamp Shale Formation. This is the largest estimate of continuous oil that USGS has ever assessed in the United States.
« Reply #1 on: November 16, 2016, 02:35:54 pm »
Quote from: IsailedawayfromFR on November 16, 2016, 01:04:08 pm
Technology is a wonderful thing.

Yes indeed.
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Offline uglybiker

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Re: USGS Estimates 20 Billion Barrels of Oil in Texas’ Wolfcamp Shale Formation. This is the largest estimate of continuous oil that USGS has ever assessed in the United States.
« Reply #2 on: November 16, 2016, 05:17:45 pm »
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...even in areas that have produced billions of barrels of oil, there is still the potential to find billions more...

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Online Ghost Bear

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Permian’s Wolfcamp formation called biggest shale oil field in U.S.
« Reply #3 on: November 16, 2016, 05:27:11 pm »
Permian’s Wolfcamp formation called biggest shale oil field in U.S.

In a troubled oil world, the Permian Basin is the gift that keeps on giving.

One portion of the giant field, known as the Wolfcamp formation, was found to hold 20 billion barrels of oil trapped in four layers of shale beneath West Texas. That’s almost three times larger than North Dakota’s Bakken play and the single largest U.S. unconventional crude accumulation ever assessed, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. At current prices, that oil is worth almost $900 billion.

The estimate lends credence to the assertion from Pioneer Natural Resources CEO Scott Sheffield that the Permian’s shale could hold as much as 75 billion barrels, making it second only to Saudi Arabia’s Ghawar field. Irving-based Pioneer has been increasing its production targets all year as drilling in the Wolfcamp produced bigger gushers than the company’s engineers and geologists forecast.

Excerpted, more at the link: http://www.star-telegram.com/news/business/article114931993.html
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Offline Joe Wooten

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Re: Permian’s Wolfcamp formation called biggest shale oil field in U.S.
« Reply #4 on: November 17, 2016, 01:41:06 pm »
Occasionally the Startlegram does do a good article or two.......

Back when I worked summers as a roustabout in the oil patch around Garden City, an old geologist told me there was a helluva lot more oil in the Wolfencamp than the official data declared there was.
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Offline IsailedawayfromFR

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Re: Permian’s Wolfcamp formation called biggest shale oil field in U.S.
« Reply #5 on: November 17, 2016, 01:49:54 pm »
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Offline Smokin Joe

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Re: Permian’s Wolfcamp formation called biggest shale oil field in U.S.
« Reply #6 on: November 17, 2016, 01:57:09 pm »
Quote from: Joe Wooten on November 17, 2016, 01:41:06 pm
Occasionally the Startlegram does do a good article or two.......

Back when I worked summers as a roustabout in the oil patch around Garden City, an old geologist told me there was a helluva lot more oil in the Wolfencamp than the official data declared there was.
Consider, too, that official estimates tend to be conservative. The Bakken/Three Forks reserves have been (significantly) revised upwards a few times.
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Offline Smokin Joe

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Re: USGS Estimates 20 Billion Barrels of Oil in Texas’ Wolfcamp Shale Formation. This is the largest estimate of continuous oil that USGS has ever assessed in the United States.
« Reply #7 on: November 17, 2016, 01:59:57 pm »
Quote from: uglybiker on November 16, 2016, 05:17:45 pm

The Williston Basin, where the Bakken is one of over 20 known oil producing geological formations had produced well over a billion barrels of oil from the Beaver Lodge Field alone before the Bakken became the 'next big thing'.
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How God must weep at humans' folly! Stand fast! God knows what he is doing!
Seventeen Techniques for Truth Suppression

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.

C S Lewis

Offline SirLinksALot

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USGS announces largest estimate of oil and gas ‘ever assessed in the United States’
« Reply #8 on: November 17, 2016, 03:35:49 pm »
SOURCE: HOTAIR

URL: http://hotair.com/archives/2016/11/16/usgs-announces-largest-estimate-of-oil-and-gas-ever-assessed-in-the-united-states/

by: John Sexton


Tuesday the U.S. Geological Survey announced the largest ever assessment of “continuous oil” ever made in the United States. The Wolfcamp shale in the area of Midland, Texas is estimated to contain three times the oil and gas of the Bakken shale formation in Montana and North Dakota. From the USGS:

Quote
The Wolfcamp shale in the Midland Basin portion of Texas’ Permian Basin province contains an estimated mean of 20 billion barrels of oil, 16 trillion cubic feet of associated natural gas, and 1.6 billion barrels of natural gas liquids, according to an assessment by the U.S. Geological Survey. This estimate is for continuous (unconventional) oil, and consists of undiscovered, technically recoverable resources.

The estimate of continuous oil in the Midland Basin Wolfcamp shale assessment is nearly three times larger than that of the 2013 USGS Bakken-Three Forks resource assessment, making this the largest estimated continuous oil accumulation that USGS has assessed in the United States to date.

“The fact that this is the largest assessment of continuous oil we have ever done just goes to show that, even in areas that have produced billions of barrels of oil, there is still the potential to find billions more,” said Walter Guidroz, program coordinator for the USGS Energy Resources Program.

Continuous oil refers to resources that are spread out rather than concentrated into a single area. So why is this massive amount of oil and gas just being assessed as recoverable now? Because technology has changed:

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Oil has been produced using traditional vertical well technology. However, more recently, oil and gas companies have been using horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, and more than 3,000 horizontal wells have been drilled and completed in the Midland Basin Wolfcamp section.

The Fort Worth Star Telegram reports this backs up industry claims that the area could be the 2nd largest oil and gas field in the world:

Quote
The estimate lends credence to the assertion from Pioneer Natural Resources CEO Scott Sheffield that the Permian’s shale could hold as much as 75 billion barrels, making it second only to Saudi Arabia’s Ghawar field. Irving-based Pioneer has been increasing its production targets all year as drilling in the Wolfcamp produced bigger gushers than the company’s engineers and geologists forecast.

The USGS published this map showing the area of the new assessment:



« Last Edit: November 17, 2016, 03:36:22 pm by SirLinksALot »
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