Tuscaloosa geothermal-geopressure resource of south Louisiana

Journal Article · Fri Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1979 · Interstate Oil Compact Comm. Com. Bull.; (United States)

OSTI ID:5263330

Adams, J B

The Tuscaloosa Trend contains in excess of 40 cubic miles of geopressured sands which have most of the qualities needed for a geopressured-geothermal resource. Permeability is the limiting factor. The 40 cubic miles calculates to 529 billion cubic feet of pore volume based on 9% porosity. If the sands are totally saturated, then at least 94 billion barrels of water are present. If each barrel contains 40 cubic feet of dissolved methane, then the resource could be expected to contain 3.76 trillion cubic feet of dissolved methane in place for the presently defined Tuscaloosa Fairway; 1.22 trillion cubic feet or 32.5% are located in the Solitude Point Prospect. Recent information indicates that the next two fault blocks north of the Solitude Point Prospect are geopressured, with a gradient of approximately 0.6. The permeabilities and porosities are excellent and far exceed those accepted as minimal for a geothermal resource. The addition of the Tuscaloosa Trend amplifies the previous assessment of the geothermal-geopressured resource in South Louisiana. The need for a test well and its evaluation is critical to the continued understanding and development of the potential energy source. With the potential for methane development alone, we simply must make every effort to integrate this energy source into the future supplies of this nation. (6 figures) (DP)

• Research Organization: Office of Conservation, Baton Rouge, LA
• OSTI ID: 5263330
• Journal Information: Interstate Oil Compact Comm. Com. Bull.; (United States), Journal Name: Interstate Oil Compact Comm. Com. Bull.; (United States) Vol. 21:1; ISSN IOCBA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

03 NATURAL GAS
030100 -- Natural Gas-- Reserves-- (-1989)
15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
150303* -- Geothermal Exploration & Exploration Technology-- Exploratory Drilling & Well Logging
ALKANES
CRYOGENIC FLUIDS
ENERGY SOURCES
FLUIDS
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
GEOPRESSURED SYSTEMS
GEOTHERMAL RESOURCES
HYDROCARBONS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
LOUISIANA
METHANE
NORTH AMERICA
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PERMEABILITY
PETROLEUM
POROSITY
RESOURCES
SAND
SOUTHWEST REGION
USA
WATER