Posted on 08/08/2017 10:01:26 AM PDT by ckilmer
Intelligence brief: Colorado shale is almost size of Marcellus; Pipeline bill calls for new technologies
Jun 14, 2016
Colorado is famous for its high peaks; now it could also be known for its shale
Colorado sits on 40 times more natural gas than previously thought, according to an updated estimate by the US Geological Survey.
The USGS said the Mancos Shale in the Piceance Basin contains about 66 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered, technically recoverable shale natural gas, 74 million barrels of shale oil and 45 million barrels of natural-gas liquids, according to the estimate, the first since 2003.
More than 2,000 wells were drilled and completed in one or more intervals within the Mancos Shale. In addition, the USGS Energy Resources Program drilled a research well in the southern Piceance Basin that provided significant new geologic and geochemical data that were used to refine the 2003 assessment.
The Mancos Shale is more than 4,000 feet thick, and contains intervals that act as the source rock for shale gas and oil, meaning that the petroleum was generated in the formation. Some of the oil and gas migrated out of the source rock and into tight (low permeability) reservoirs within the Mancos, as well as into conventional reservoirs both above and below the formation. Oil and gas also remained in continuous shale gas and shale oil reservoirs within the Mancos, the USGS said.
By comparison, the most recent USGS surveys estimate that the Marcellus Shale contains about 84 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, and the Barnett Shale about 53 trillion cubic feet.
A bi-partisan pipeline-safety bill passed by the US House of Representatives this week would, if passed into law, require the Secretary of Transportation to conduct a study on improving existing damage-prevention programs through technological improvements.
The study must include an identification of any methods to improve damage prevention through location and mapping practices or technologies in an effort to reduce releases caused by excavation.
It must also analyze how increased use of global-positioning system and digital-mapping technologies, predictive-analytic tools, public-awareness initiatives, mobile devices, and other advanced technologies could supplement existing one-call notification and damage-prevention programs to reduce the frequency and severity of incidents caused by excavation damage.
The bill also required an analysis of the feasibility of a national data repository for pipeline-excavation accident data that creates standardized data models for storing and sharing pipeline-accident information.
In addition to its focus on technologies, the legislation requires the agency to update safety regulations, increase transparency, and speed up the process of completing outstanding safety requirements included in the 2011 reauthorization of the federal pipeline-safety program.
Don Santa, Chief Executive of the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America, which represents most of the interstate natural-gas pipeline companies in the US, applauded the house for passing S. 2276, the PIPES Act of 2016.
“Overall, S. 2276 meets INGAA’s goals for the current reauthorization of the Pipeline Safety Act. These goals include: reasonable authorization levels for the Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration; a focus on PHMSA completing the regulatory mandates under the Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty and Job Creation Act of 2011; and a requirement that PHMSA set minimum federal safety standards for underground natural gas storage facilities,” he said.
Where’s Ellis Wyatt?.......................
Ok I’ll bite. Who is Ellis Wyatt?
Atlas Shrugged.
>>Ok I’ll bite. Who is Ellis Wyatt?
Who’s John Galt?
Haven’t heard those idiots over at the DUmp talking about ‘peak oil’ lately, I wonder why?
“The Marcellus Formation (also classified as the Marcellus Subgroup of the Hamilton Group, Marcellus Member of the Romney Formation, or simply the Marcellus Shale) is a Middle Devonian age unit of marine sedimentary rock found in eastern North America.
Named for a distinctive outcrop near the village of Marcellus, New York, in the United States,[3] it extends throughout much of the Appalachian Basin.[4]
The shale contains largely untapped natural gas reserves, and its proximity to the high-demand markets along the East Coast of the United States makes it an attractive target for energy development and export.[5]
Stratigraphically, the Marcellus is the lowest unit of the Devonian age Hamilton Group, and is divided into several sub-units.
Although black shale is the dominant lithology, it also contains lighter shales and interbedded limestone layers due to sea level variation during its deposition almost 400 million years ago.[6]
The black shale was deposited in relatively deep water devoid of oxygen, and is only sparsely fossiliferous. Most fossils are contained in the limestone members, and the fossil record in these layers provides important paleontological insights on faunal turnovers.
The black shales also contain iron ore that was used in the early economic development of the region, and uranium and pyrite which are environmental hazards. The fissile shales are also easily eroded, presenting additional civil and environmental engineering challenges.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcellus_Formation
A barrel of oil is equivalent, in energy content, to about 6000 cubic feet of natural gas. Hence 66 trillion cubic feet of gas is equivalent to around 10 billion barrels of oil, dwarfing the recoverable liquids.
A barrel of oil is equivalent, in energy content, to about 6000 cubic feet of natural gas. Hence 66 trillion cubic feet of gas is equivalent to around 10 billion barrels of oil, dwarfing the recoverable liquids.
Ok, if your point is that the shale oil is expensive to drill & bring to Market I agree. But BP seems to making progress on that score.
http://www.bp.com/en_us/bp-us/media-room/press-releases/bp-makes-discovery-in-mancos-shale.html
Nat gas can keep you warm, but it doesn’t plant food or ship it to your grocery store shelves.
Only oil does that.
Drill it, process it, and sell it.
No point being made, just the coincidence of Colorado shale oil extraction and Wyatt’s character in Atlas Shrugged........................
Drilling it or Minding it would P.O. Al Gore, O’Bama, all the Greenies, and all the environmentalist. So, DRILL & Mine NOW!
The supply of energy to be extracted from the earth is still a vast magnitude greater than even the most avaricious dreams of mankind.
And you want to know another little secret of nature, dear readers?
The earth is continuously forming methane and other hydrocarbons down in that zone between the mantle and the stony surface crust, which is known as Mohorovicic Discontinuity, or the Moho. With greatly heightened temperatures and considerable pressure, many reactions are going on here, that could not happen at surface temperatures and pressure conditions. By what is called abiotic generation, with no known assist from fermenting dinosaur soup or sunken primeval swamps, the various hydrocarbons are being formed and continuously modified in this specific depths, which varies from 8 km below the surface, in most ocean depths, to more than 32 km down under the highest reaches of terrestrial mountains, and are a natural function of the vast collection of different stew pat cookers in various parts of the world..
Fertilizer Made with Natural Gas Is Lifting Our World: http://naturalgasnow.org/fertilizer-made-natural-gas-lifting-world/ Gas as fertilizer feedstock Natural gas is a key source of fertilizers in the form of ammonia and urea. http://petrowiki.org/Gas_as_fertilizer_feedstock
*thumbs up*
I came in just to post that joke.
MARCELLUS WALLACE! DO HE LOOK LIKE A BITCH?
maybe so but this article that talks up BP’s work also points to the difficulties of getting natural gas out of the Mancos. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-07/little-known-new-mexico-shale-play-gives-bp-big-time-results
So transport & distance from market is a real life issue as well.
As it happens there is a new natural gas pipeline from the Mancos shale that was supposed to go out to Oregon. I believe that the pipeline is currently on hold as Oregon has stopped the terminal there.
http://www.mailtribune.com/news/20161209/ferc-upholds-denial-of-pipeline-through-oregon
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