USGS releases assessment of undiscovered oil and gas in Southwest Wyoming, Northwest Colorado
USGS assessment estimates 27 trillion cubic feet of gas, 473 million barrels of oil are undiscovered, recoverable in SW Wyoming, NE Colorado
A new USGS report estimated 473 million barrels of oil and 27 trillion cubic feet of natural gas are undiscovered and technically recoverable in the Mowry Composite Total Petroleum System in Southwest Wyoming and Northeast Colorado.
Since exploration began in the 1950s, the Mowry Composite system, which includes the Dakota Sandstone, the Muddy Sandstone, the Mowry Shale, and the Frontier Formation, has produced approximately 7.3 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, as much gas as the U.S. consumes in three months at the current rate of consumption, and 90 million barrels of oil, or four days’ supply for the nation.
“USGS energy assessments typically focus on undiscovered resources – areas where science tells us there may be a resource that industry hasn’t discovered yet,” said Acting USGS Director Sarah Ryker. “In this case, our assessment found substantial undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and gas resources.”
The assessment includes the Mowry Composite Total Petroleum System, a geologic grouping in southwestern Wyoming and parts of Colorado and Utah containing deposits of a shallow, prehistoric ocean which covered most of the Rocky Mountain region. The USGS previously assessed undiscovered energy resources in the area in 2005. The Southwestern Wyoming Geologic Province, where the Mowry is located, also produces abundant additional oil and gas from other formations, such as the Lance Formation, Lewis Shale, and the Mesa Verde Group, none of which are accounted for in today’s assessment.
-- The headline on this Science Snippet was revised to correct the geography.