USGS releases assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources in Woodford and Barnett shales

Since production began in the late 1990s, the Woodford and Barnett shales have produced 26 million barrels of oil, equal to one day’s U.S. consumption.  The Permian Basin has long been one of the most abundant sources of U.S. energy. The organic-rich shales of the Woodford and Barnett occur up to 20,000 feet below the surface, at greater depths than other resources in the Permian. Advances in unconventional production – hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling – now make it possible to produce energy resources from previously inaccessible and technically challenging formations, such as the Woodford and Barnett. 

“The U.S. economy and our way of life depend on energy, and USGS oil and gas assessments point to resources that industry hasn’t discovered yet.  In this case, we have assessed there are significant undiscovered resources in the Woodford and Barnett shales in the Permian Basin,” said Ned Mamula, director of the USGS. 

USGS oil and gas assessments began 50 years ago following an oil embargo against the U.S. that signaled a need to understand the occurrence, distribution and potential volumes of undiscovered resources.  The embargo led to a mandate for the USGS to use geologic science and data to assess undiscovered oil and gas resources to help meet the nation’s needs.  The work continues today – identifying new resources for domestic production as well as international resources that affect market conditions — an important part of the USGS mission to provide actionable insight to U.S. leaders, other Federal agencies, industry and the public.

USGS energy resource assessments provide information to policy makers on resource potential in areas of the U.S. and the world. For land-management agencies such as the Bureau of Land Management, the results of an energy resources assessment feed into land-use and resource management plans.  For the private sector, USGS assessments of undiscovered energy resources provide context for planning detailed exploration.

The range of assessments produced by the USGS has changed with the technology available to produce oil.  In 1995, the USGS began conducting assessments of unconventional, technically recoverable resources.  “The shift to horizontal drilling with fracking has revolutionized oil production, and we’ve changed with it,” said Christopher Schenk, USGS geologist.

View of the Franklin Mountains in El Paso, Texas, looking north to the Organ Mountains of New Mexico.  The area sits atop the Woodford Shale, which can be seen as dark gray material on the left.  Photo by Andrea Cicero/USGS.

Geologists on a West Texas Geological Society site visit to the Woodford Shale, visible on the trail and to its right (although it extends from the surface to 20,000 feet below).  Photo by Andrea Cicero/USGS.

The USGS Energy Resources Program assesses the potential for undiscovered oil and gas resources in priority geologic provinces in the United States and around the world. Two methodologies are used by the USGS: one for assessing conventional oil and gas resources and one for assessing unconventional (continuous) oil and gas resources (such as shale gas and coalbed gas).  

The fact sheet on the Woodford and Barnett Shales Oil and Gas Assessment is available HERE.

# # #