Geological survey in Texas uncovers 1.6 billion barrels of oil
Oil deposit map overlaid on image of oil derricks
PERMIAN BASIN - A recent U.S. Geological Survey assessment of previously undiscovered gas and oil in Texas' Permian Basin has found that there are enough resources there to fuel the entire nation for months.
The gas and oil, measured in trillions of cubic feet and billions of barrels, are located in the Woodford and Barnett shale, which to date have produced only a day's worth of U.S. oil consumption.
Undiscovered oil in Texas
The assessment found that there are technically recoverable resources of 28.3 trillion cubic feet of gas and 1.6 billion barrels of oil, the USGS said in their Wednesday release.
According to the USGS, that's enough gas to supply the United States for 10 months at the current rate of consumption, and enough oil for 10 weeks.
The Woodford and Barnett shales, which stretch from the Permian Basin to southeastern New Mexico, have produced about 26 million barrels of oil since the late 90s, the USGS said — or enough oil for one day of U.S. consumption.
Due to the depth of these undiscovered deposits, USGS said, it was impossible to get to them before today's more advanced production technologies.
What they're saying:
"The U.S. economy and our way of life depend on energy, and USGS oil and gas assessments point to resources that industry hasn’t discovered yet. In this case, we have assessed there are significant undiscovered resources in the Woodford and Barnett shales in the Permian Basin," said Ned Mamula, director of the USGS.
The Source: Information in this article comes from the U.S. Geological Survey.