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Assessment of gas resources in low-permeability sandstones of Upper Cretaceous Mesaverde Group, Piceance Basin, Colorado

Conference ·
OSTI ID:6501196
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A modified volumetric approach is used to estimate gas resources in the low-permeability sandstones of the Upper Cretaceous Mesaverde Group in the Piceance basin of western Colorado. The Mesaverde Group was divided into three plays based on stratigraphy - the Williams Fork Formation, the Iles Formation, and the Rollins Sandstone Member (Mesaverde Formation) or Trout Creek Sandstone Member (Iles Formation). Each of these plays was subdivided into a deep-gas play and a shallower gas-water transition play. Variations in thermal maturity were used to define the boundaries of the plays. The aggregated mean in-place gas for all six plays is 419.55 tcf. The mean in-place resource numbers were run through probability programs, which assign estimates of the gas potential at the 95%, 75%, 50%, 25%, and 5% probability levels both for individual plays and for the aggregate of all six plays. Assuming a 75% degree of dependency between the plays, there is a 95% chance of at least 274.45 tcf of total inplace gas, a 50% chance of 407.60 tcf, and a 5% chance of 605.33 tcf. Next, six different recovery factors were used. The first three assume current technology and a gas price of $5/mcf, and the second three assume future advanced technology without a gas price specified. The most likely estimated recoverable gas figures for the six plays at the 95%, 50%, and 5% probability levels using current technology are 8.75, 13.03, and 19.41 tcf, and using future advanced technology are 44.23, 65.97, and 98.39 tcf.
OSTI ID:
6501196
Report Number(s):
CONF-880301-
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Related Subjects

03 NATURAL GAS
030200* -- Natural Gas-- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
COLORADO
CRETACEOUS PERIOD
ENERGY SOURCES
EXPLORATION
FEDERAL REGION VIII
FLUIDS
FOSSIL FUELS
FUEL GAS
FUELS
GAS FUELS
GASES
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOLOGY
MATURATION
MESOZOIC ERA
MINERAL RESOURCES
NATURAL GAS
NATURAL GAS DEPOSITS
NORTH AMERICA
PERMEABILITY
PETROLEUM GEOLOGY
PICEANCE CREEK BASIN
RESOURCE POTENTIAL
RESOURCES
ROCKS
SANDSTONES
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
USA