Geology of tight oil and potential tight oil reservoirs in the lower part of the Green River Formation, Uinta, Piceance, and Greater Green River Basins, Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming

Abstract

For more information on the USGS-the Federal source for science about the Earth, its natural and living resources, natural hazards, and the environment-visit http://www.usgs.gov or call 1-888-ASK-USGS.For an overview of USGS information products, including maps, imagery, and publications, visit http://store.usgs.gov/ Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.Although this information product, for the most part, is in the public domain, it also may contain copyrighted materials as noted in the text. Permission to reproduce copyrighted items must be secured from the copyright owner.Suggested citation: Johnson, R.C., Birdwell, J.E., Mercier, T.J., and Brownfield, M.E., 2016, Geology of tight oil and potential tight oil reservoirs in the lower part of the Green River Formation, Uinta, Piceance, and Greater Green River Basins, Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5008, 63 p., http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/sir20165008. and Lake Gosiute (Greater Green River Basin informal Uteland Butte member of the Green River Formation, defined here as a pressure gradient of greater than 0.5 pounds per square inch per foot, and total oil production for the first full 3 months of production for all horizontal producers identified as completed in the Uteland Butte member . AbstractThe recent successful development

Stratigraphic architecture of climate influenced hyperpycnal mouth bars

“…Because hyperpycnal currents form when high density flows enter a body of water of lesser density, an understanding of the chemistry of Lake Uinta is important (Bates, 1953). The Douglas Creek Member study interval overlies the lower Green River Formation, which records freshwater lake conditions in the history of Lake Uinta, as evidenced by the presence of abundant freshwater molluscs, gastropods, bivalves and ostracods (Johnson, 1985; Johnson et al., 2016; Logan et al., 2016). Additionally, it underlies evidence of hypersalinity which appears locally in the overlying Parachute Creek Member with the development of widespread oil shale and local saline precipitation in the lake depocentre (Vanden Berg et al., 2013; Vanden Berg & Birgenheier, 2017).…”

A Comparison of Geological Characteristics of the Main Continental Shale Oil in China and the U.S.

“…The Uinta Basin with an area of 25,000 km 2 locates in eastern Utah and western Colorado, which contains fluvial and lacustrine deposits of Eocene Lake Uinta bounded by Laramide uplifts and the Sevier fold and thrust belt. Thin-layer dolomite in the Uteland Butte Member (single layer thickness is 0.5~3 m) receiving much attention as a horizontal target is the first successfully developed reservoir of continental shale oil in North America [38][39][40][41]. 2 Lithosphere…”

Syngenetic rapid growth of ellipsoidal silica concretions with bitumen cores

“…43 Ma 34 , 35 . Based on the vitrinite reflectance of about 0.5–0.6 %Ro in the Indian Canyon section 29 , 30 , the maximum estimated burial depth of the formation is about 200–600 m. The maximum geothermal temperature is estimated at about 100 °C, which corresponds to the bitumen generation stage 36 .…”