An assessment by the US Geological Survey reveals potential undiscovered oil and gas in two formations under much of the US Gulf Coast from Texas to Florida.
The survey detailed that here are technically recoverable resources of 35.8 trillion cubic feet of gas and 28 million barrels of oil. That’s enough gas to power the entire United States for 14 months at the current rate of consumption, the USGS said in a note.
“USGS energy assessments typically focus on undiscovered resources – areas where science tells us there may be a resource that industry hasn’t discovered yet. In this case, our assessment found substantial resources of gas,” said Sarah Ryker, acting director of the USGS.
Since exploration began in the area, the Hosston and Travis Peak Formations have produced 8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 126 million barrels of oil. The formation represents a small segment of the onshore Gulf Coast’s Cretaceous-aged rocks.
Much of the undiscovered, technically recoverable natural gas estimated to be present in the Hosston – Travis Peak formations is what the industry calls “tight gas”: natural gas trapped in low permeability rock, far below the surface. “Producing tight gas here would involve drilling and fracking, down more than 8,000–10,000 feet from the surface,” said Christopher Schenk, USGS geologist, in a May 7 news release.
The agency says that while the study area stretches from the Mexican border along the Gulf of America to most of Florida, resources are concentrated in one sliver extending from southeastern Texas across central Louisian