U.S. Department of the InteriorU.S. Geological Survey

Fact Sheet 2011–3113October 2011

Oil Shale Assessment Project

In-Place Oil Shale Resources Underlying Federal Lands in the Green River and Washakie Basins, Southwestern Wyoming

Printed on recycled paper

IntroductionThe U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) recently (2011) esti-

mated the in-place oil shale resources, regardless of grade, in the Eocene Green River Formation of the Green River and Washakie Basins, southwestern Wyoming (fig. 1) at about 1.45 trillion barrels of oil (Johnson and others, 2011). The oil shale interval within the formation was subdivided into three zones, in ascending order: (1) Tipton Shale Member, (2) Wilkins Peak Member, and (3) LaClede Bed of Laney Member (fig. 2); each zone was assessed separately (table 1). Using geographic information systems (GIS) technol-ogy, several subsets of the total volume of 1.45 trillion barrels were calculated by merging the oil shale resource data with Bureau of Land Management (BLM) surface and subsurface ownership files (Bureau of Land Management, 2011). Because of the complex nature of mineral estate ownership, only those areas where the Federal Government retains rights to all minerals as defined by the

Using a geologic-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated an in-place oil shale resource of 906 billion barrels under Federal mineral rights, or 62 percent of the total oil shale in place, in the Green River and Washakie Basins, Wyoming. More than 67 percent of the total oil shale in-place resource, or 969 billion barrels, is under Federal surface management.

R. 117 W. R. 116 W. R. 115 W. R. 114 W. R. 113 W. R. 112 W. R. 111 W. R. 110 W. R. 109 W. R. 108 W. R. 107 W. R. 106 W. R. 105 W. R. 104 W. R. 103 W.R. 102 W. R. 101 W. R. 100 W. R. 99 W. R. 98 W. R. 97 W. R. 96 W. R. 95 W. R. 94 W. R. 93 W. R. 92 W.

R. 115 W.

T.30N.

T.29N.

T.28N.

T.27N.T.26N.T.25N.

T.24N.T.23N.T.22N.T.21N.

T.20N.T.19N.T.18N.T.17N.

T.16N.T.15N.

T.14N.

R. 118 W.

T.13N.

R. 91 W.

R. 95 W.R. 100 W.

R. 105 W.

R. 110 W.

107°30'108°00'108°30'109°00'109°30'110°00'110°30'

42°30'

42°00'

41°30'

41°00'

0 5 10 MILES

WYOMING

0 5 10 KILOMETERS

COLORADO

WYOMING

UTAH

Study area

Federal mineral rights

Bureau of Land Management

Bureau of Reclamation

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

U.S. Forest Service

Private

State

Water

EXPLANATION

LaClede and Wilkins Peak Resource Boundary

Tipton Resource Boundary

BLM were assessed as federally owned. This resulted in a mini-mum estimate of Federal oil shale resources.

Resources Underlying Federal Lands Table 1 lists several subtotals of the total estimated 1.45 trillion barrels of oil in the Green River Formation:

1. About 906 billion barrels (62 percent) are federally owned.

2. About 969 billion barrels (67 percent) are located under Federal surface administered lands.

3. About 133 billion barrels (9 percent) are in strata that contain more than 15 gallons per ton (GPT) of rock, of which about 72 billion barrels are under Federal mineral (subsurface) ownership.

The 15 GPT estimates include only those areas where the weighted average of an entire assessed zone exceeds that minimum cutoff. In areas where the entire zone does not meet the minimum criteria, some oil shale intervals of significant thickness could exist within zones that exceed these minimum cutoffs. For example, a 30-foot interval within an oil shale zone might exceed 15 GPT, but if the entire zone averages less than 15 GPT, these resources are not included in the 15 GPT subtotals, although they might be exploited in the future.

References Cited

Bureau of Land Management, 2011, Wyoming surface and mineral status— state-owns.zip: Bureau of Land Manage-ment database, accessed May 2, 2011, at http://www.blm.gov/wy/st/en/resources/public_room/gis/datagis/state/state-own.html.

Johnson, R.C., Mercier, T.J., and Brownfield, M.E., 2011, Assessment of in-place oil shale resources of the Green River Formation, Greater Green River Basin in Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2011–3063, 4 p.

Figure 1. Surface management and Federal mineral rights of oil shale resources in the Eocene Green River Formation, Green River and Washakie Basins, Wyoming.

For Additional InformationSupporting geologic studies of the oil shale-bearing units,

assessment units, oil shale analysis, and the methodology used in assessing the oil shale resources in the Green River and Washakie Basins are in progress. Assessment results are available at the USGS Central Energy Resources Science Center website at http://energy.cr.usgs.gov/other/oil_shale/.

Figure 2. East-west stratigraphic cross section showing stratigraphic boundaries of the three oil shale units assessed (heavy black outlines) and related stratigraphic units (modified from Johnson and others, 2011). Outline in red on index map shows the Greater Green River Basin.

Contact InformationFor further information, contact Tracey J. Mercier (tmercier@

usgs.gov), Ronald C. Johnson (rcjohnson@usgs.gov), or Michael E. Brownfield (mbrownfield@usgs.gov.

Table 1. Oil shale resources under federally managed lands and under Federal mineral rights in the Green River and Washakie Basins, Wyoming.

[Resource figures are in millions of barrels; resources are reported to four significant figures and may not equal the sum of the components, because of independent rounding; %, percent; ≥, greater than or equal to; GPT, gallons per ton]

All oil yields Oil yield of 15 gallons per ton or greater

Federal mineral Federal surface Federal mineral

Oil shale zone (Green River Formation)

Total oil in place

Oil in place

As % of total

in place

Oil in place

As % of total

in place

Oil in place

As % of total

in place

Oil in place

As % of total

in place

"As % of ≥ 15 GPT"

LaClede Bed of Laney Member 377,200 270,800 72 286,600 76 17,030 5 10,410 3 61Wilkins Peak Member 711,400 418,100 59 450,200 63 4,371 1 3,953 1 90Tipton Shale Member 362,800 217,300 60 231,800 64 111,100 31 57,800 16 52

Total 1,451,000 906,100 62 968,500 67 132,500 9 72,170 5 54

1.400

1.600

1.700

1.800

1.900

1,300

1,200

1,100

TIPTON SHALEMEMBER

0

0

0FEET

0

00

500

500

500 500

500 500

1,0001,000

1,0001,000

1,000

1,000

11.5 Miles

5.7 Miles

1.0 Miles

9.5 Miles

50.5 Miles 5.3 Miles

1,500

1,500

1,500 1,500

1,500 1,500

2,000

2,500

2,000

2,0002,000

2,000

2,000

2,500

3,000

2,500

3,000

3,500Wilkins

PeakMember

CathedralBluffs

Tongueof

WasatchFormation

CathedralBluffs

Tongueof

WasatchFormation

?

?

?

?

LACLEDE BED OF LANEY MEMBERLaClede Bed of Laney Member

Hartt CabinBed of

Laney Member

GreenRiver

Formation

Mixed tan or gray freshwater lacustrine and sandstone deposits and gray or green flood-plain mudstone and sandstone deposits. Some volcanic debris in Hartt Cabin Bed.

EXPLANATION

RockSprings

uplift

Washakie

Basin

Green River Basin

A

A′

Red flood-plain deposits Cyclic saltwater lacustrine oil shale,evaporite, and mudflat deposits

Saltwater lacustrine (rich) oil shale deposits

Freshwater lacustrine (lean) oil shale deposits

Trona bed in Wilkins Peak Member

SCHEGGS BEDRIFE BED

A A'

WYOMING

COLORADO

UTAH