Assessing gas and oil resources in the intermountain West : review of methods and framework for a new approach

This report lays the foundation for determining the gas and oil resources that are realistically available when exploration and production costs, infrastructure and transporation costs, and enviromental impacts are considered. The authors examine four recent traditionalassessments of the nation's potential supply of natural gas and oilresources. They suggest a new methodology: estimating viable resource, which is the gas and oil resource that is available when exploration andproduction costs, infrastructure and transportation costs, and environmentalimpacts are considered. This methodology will be used in future research onspecific geographic areas. The authors examine four recent traditional assessments of the nation'spotential supply of natural gas and oil resources. The assessments were doneby the U.S. Geological Survey National Oil and Gas Resource Assessment Team, the Minerals Management Service, the National Petroleum Council, and thePotential Gas Committee. Although the assessments vary, they each indicatethat the Intermountain West contains substantial natural gas and oilresources. Traditional resource assessments, however, are intended toestimate the technically recoverable resource, which does not reflect theamount of resource that can realistically be produced. This report lays thefoundation for determining the viable gas and oil resource: that which isavailable when exploration and production costs, infrastructure andtransportation costs, and environmental impacts are considered. The nextstep in the research will be to apply this methodology to estimate theviable resource in individual geographic areas. The analysis will specifythe relationships among gas and oil deposits, technological options, economic costs, infrastructure requirements, environmental impacts, andother variables to allow for a comprehensive assessment of the viable gasand oil resource The authors examine four recent traditional assessments of the nation's potential supply of natural gas and oil resources. The assessments were done by the U.S. Geological Survey National Oil and Gas Resource Assessment Team, the Minerals Management Service, the National Petroleum Council, and the Potential Gas Committee. Although the assessments vary, they each indicate that the Intermountain West contains substantial natural gas and oil resources. Traditional resource assessments, however, are intended to estimate the "technically recoverable" resource, which does not reflect the amount of resource that can realistically be produced. This report lays the foundation for determining the "viable" gas and oil resource: that which is available when exploration and production costs, infrastructure and transportation costs, and environmental impacts are considered. The next step in the research will be to apply this methodology to estimate the viable resource in individual geographic areas. The analysis will specify the relationships among gas and oil deposits, technological options, economic costs, infrastructure requirements, environmental impacts, and other variables to allow for a comprehensive assessment of the viable gas and oil resource This work examines four traditional assessments of the nation's potential supply of natural gas and oil resources. It suggests a new methodology - estimating ""viable"" resource, infrastructure and transportation costs. Environmental impacts are also considered The amount and availability of gas and oil resources in the Intermountain Western United States have become the subjects of increased interest in recent years.