ENERGY & MINERALS

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UGS-Funded Hydrocarbon Research

The Utah Geological Survey, using mineral lease funds, started a program in 2004 titled Characterization of Utah’s Hydrocarbon Reservoirs and Potential New Reserves. In 2010 the scope of these research projects was broadened to include all energy and mineral resources in Utah.

The program is designed to help

  1. Improve the state’s assessment of its hydrocarbon resources,
  2. Identify reservoir features, untapped compartments, or recovery techniques to encourage more effective exploitation of proven reserves, and
  3. Expand the understanding of the depositional history, trapping mechanism, source rocks, and generation/migration of hydrocarbons to promote exploration for new or untapped hydrocarbon resource
Covenant oil field, east of Richfield, Sevier County, Utah. The subsurface mineral rights in the field are owned by the BLM, SITLA, and a private entity.
Covenant oil field, east of Richfield, Sevier County, Utah. The subsurface mineral rights in the field are owned by the BLM, SITLA, and a private entity.
Castle Gate in Price River Canyon (view looking east) is composed of the Castlegate Sandstone of the Cretaceous Mesaverde Group. The Castlegate Sandstone was deposited in an ancient braided stream system and produces gas at Natural Buttes field in the eastern Uinta Basin. Photo courtesy of Robert Ressetar.
Castle Gate in Price River Canyon (view looking east) is composed of the Castlegate Sandstone of the Cretaceous Mesaverde Group. The Castlegate Sandstone was deposited in an ancient braided stream system and produces gas at Natural Buttes field in the eastern Uinta Basin. Photo courtesy of Robert Ressetar.
Glad You Asked - GSL Stromatolites
Glad You Asked - GSL Stromatolites
UGS geologists describing and measuring an outcrop of the Chimney Rock shale (Paradox Formation) east of Mexican Hat, southeastern Utah. The organic rich Chimney Rock is a potential shale-gas reservoir deep in the subsurface. The lower Desert Creek, which may also have gas potential, and Akah are also zones in the Paradox Formation.
UGS geologists describing and measuring an outcrop of the Chimney Rock shale (Paradox Formation) east of Mexican Hat, southeastern Utah. The organic rich Chimney Rock is a potential shale-gas reservoir deep in the subsurface. The lower Desert Creek, which may also have gas potential, and Akah are also zones in the Paradox Formation.
Newly developed Daneros mine entries. The mine is in the White Canyon district about 60 miles west of Blanding, Utah. The White Canyon district ores are in the basal Shinarump Conglomerate Member of the Upper Triassic Chinle Formation.
Newly developed Daneros mine entries. The mine is in the White Canyon district about 60 miles west of Blanding, Utah. The White Canyon district ores are in the basal Shinarump Conglomerate Member of the Upper Triassic Chinle Formation.

2005 Funded Research Projects

Mesaverde Gas of Southeastern Uinta Basin, by Paul B. Anderson, consulting geologist, Salt Lake City, Utah, UGS Open-File Report 460.

Defining and Characterizing Mesaverde and Mancos Sandstone Reservoirs Based on Interpretation of Formation MicroImager (FMI) Logs, Eastern Uinta Basin, Utah, by Mark W. Longman, consulting geologist, Lakewood, Colorado, and Randolph J. Koepsell, Schlumberger Oilfield Services, Greenwood Village, Colorado, Kerr McGee, EOG Resources, Questar, and Schlumberger Corporations (Colorado) contributed to the project. UGS Open-File Report 458.

A Multidisciplinary Approach to Reservoir Characterization of the Entrada Erg-Margin Gas Play, Utah, by Thomas H. Morris and John H. McBride, Brigham Young University Department of Geology, Provo, Utah, UGS Open-File Report 459.

Shale-Gas Reservoirs of Utah: Survey of an Unexploited Potential Energy Resource, Steven Schamel, GeoX Consulting Inc., Salt Lake City, Utah, UGS Open-File Report 461.

Contact

For more information contact Michael Vanden Berg, 801-538-5419, michaelvandenberg@utah.gov.