The current fossil energy boom in the United States is natural gas from shale. The next one could be oil shales [1].
[1] http://geology.com/usgs/oil-shale/
More at TheHill.com.Colorado Gas
Anadarko Oil Estimate for the Niobrara Formation
Anadarko Petroleum estimates that the Niobrara Formation in the Wattenberg Field contains the equivalent of 500 million to 1.5 billion barrels of oil that can be tapped by horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. (See slides 11-15 in the .pdf doc…
More at Anadarko.
How Natural Gas is Taxed in 19 Different States
The Marshall University Center for Business and Economic Research has prepared: Taxation of Natural Gas: A Comparative Analysis. This publication reviews the many methods of taxing natural gas 19 different states. You might be surprised at how many …
More at Marshall University Center for Business and Economic Research.
Seismic Surveys of the Niobrara Shale
An article in the Casper Star-Tribune reports that companies interested in the Niobrara Shale of Wyoming and Colorado are using seismic surveys to understand the stratigraphy.
More at Casper Star-Tribune.
Oil Shale Resources of the Green River Formation
USGS has published Assessment of In-Place Oil Shale Resources in the Eocene Green River Formation, Greater Green River Basin, Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah.
The publication summarizes the Green River Formation with detailed descriptions, maps, cross-se…
Niobrara Shale: Higher Risk Than Expected?
Some companies are starting to doubt the initially optimistic opinions about the Niobrara Shale that has produced oil and natural gas in the Colorado, Western Nebraska and Wyoming area. Some recent wells have not been commercially viable and that has generated uncertainty. More at GulfNews.com.
Manufacturing Oil and Gas Reservoirs in the Niobrara Shale
Mark Northam, director of the School of Energy Resources at the University of Wyoming says that horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing allow drillers to “manufacture a reservoir” in the Niobrara Shale. More in the Billings Gazette.
New Drilling Technology Opens the Niobrara Shale
An article in the Billings Gazette explains how horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing are opening a bonanza of oil and natural gas from the Niobrara Shale in Colorado, Kansas and Wyoming.
Oil from the Niobrara Shale: Colorado, Nebraska, Wyoming
An article on the CNBC website reports that companies are working hard to get Niobrara Shale acres under lease in parts of Wyoming, Colorado and Nebraska. They believe that horizontal drilling in the Niobrara will yield a bonanza of oil similar to the Bakken Shale of North Dakota.
NGSA Response to Gasland
The Natural Gas Supply Association has posted a .pdf document about the Gasland documentary. They report that the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission investigated the case of flammable tap water shown in the film. COGCC found that the water was flammable because the water well penetrated a naturally occurring pocket of natural gas.
Replace Coal Plants With Natural Gas?
The Colorado Legislature has placed the state’s leading electric power producer in a position where it must decide to replace its coal-fired power generation units with natural gas or retrofit the plants with new coal-burning technologies. More at The Denver Channel.
Hydrofracking Oil Shales?
Shale has been hot in the news over the past few years because of the numerous natural gas plays in the United States and other countries. An article on the Reuters website speculates that oil from shale will be the next big wave in the news with the Niobrara Shale of Colorado, the Bakken Shale of North Dakota and the Eagle Ford Shale of Texas making the initial headlines.
Drilling Near Project Rulison
Project Rulison was an experiment done in 1969 to determine if an underground atomic blast would stimulate natural gas production. Today there are concerns because Nobel Energy Production plans to drill gas wells near the test site south of Rifle, Colorado. More in an article on the Denver Post website.
