A new U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) found technically recoverable resources In West Texas, in the Permian Basin, nestled in the Woodford and Barnett Shales. The massive discovery of oil and natural gas was discovered almost 20 thousand feet below the surface. “The further west the basins lay the deeper they get. So, what they’re estimating we have about 1.6 billion barrels under the ground along with 28 trillion natural gas.” Trevino said.
He says they won’t tap into the resources until gas prices rise again until it makes economic sense.
The oil and gas industry Trevino says, must keep searching to stack up on reserves and to remain competitive with other countries to keep the cost of gas down for Americans. The findings were discovered using newer tools with advanced technology allowing scientists to explore as far as 20,000 feet below surface. The report says the USGS said that amount of gas would cover about 10 months of U.S. consumption at the current pace, while the oil would equal roughly a 10-week supply.
The Woodford and Barnett shales stretch from the Permian Basin into southeastern New Mexico, and they sit far deeper than the other areas in the region that have been refined in the past going back to the 1990’s. Earlier surveys were unable to tally the additional renewable resources because of the depth of the formations and were not accessible with older tools. The USGS noted that advances in production technology have changed what is possible now, compared to the past, when it was simply too deep to reach economically. The Woodford and Barnett Shales have produced about 26 million barrels of oil thus far. The agency describes the volume as about one day of national consumption.