[First Hit]

Datapages, Inc.Print this page

Energy and the West: Previous HitGasNext Hit Resources and Production Issues

Cook, Lance
Wyoming State Geological Survey, Laramie, WY

As natural Previous HitgasNext Hit demand grows in the US marketplace, part of the public discussion relating to our growing natural Previous HitgasNext Hit industry has centered around Previous HitgasNext Hit resource access questions (Are there impediments to leasing and exploring our resources?), Previous HitgasNext Hit production questions (Are we able to drill and produce the Previous HitgasNext Hit that we have?), and ultimately, Previous HitgasNext Hit supply questions (Do we have enough resource? Are we running out of Previous HitgasNext Hit?). Wyoming, as the only state in the USA to have increased Previous HitgasNext Hit production every year for the past 18 years, presents a useful microcosm to evaluate these questions on a detailed basis for the Rocky Mountain region, where much of the USA’s undeveloped Previous HitgasNext Hit resource base is thought to lie.

Wyoming has a number of as-yet undeveloped Previous HitgasNext Hit resources that are sufficiently large to have an impact on the national Previous HitgasNext Hit supply picture:

  • Jonah Field 6-12 TCF (recoverable)
  • Pinedale Anticline 10-20 TCF (recoverable) 
  • Big-Piney LaBarge 15-25 TCF (recoverable) 
  • Madden Field 3-5 TCF (recoverable) 
  • Powder River CBM 24-27 TCF (recoverable) TOTAL 59-89 TCF (recoverable)

Additionally, Wyoming has large undeveloped/under-explored resources in Previous HittightNext Hit Previous HitgasNext Hit plays, coalbed methane and deep structural trends. In the future, technological advancements will enhance recoveries from already known conventional fields as well as unconventional resources.

However, Wyoming’s Previous HitgasNext Hit resources are not all easily developed. There are a number of impediments that have reduced the rate of development drilling, reduced necessary access for exploration, precluded development entirely, and may reduce the ultimate recovery of discovered fields. Wyoming, with all of its Previous HitgasNext Hit resources and long history of production growth, is forecasting no growth in natural Previous HitgasNext Hit production for 2004 due to a number of impediments. These impediments are due to federal, state and market-driven constraints.

As Previous HitgasNext Hit supplies grow tighter in the future, and before North Slope Previous HitgasNext Hit or LNG imports can bolster domestic supplies, it will be necessary for all levels of government to recognize that the supply of natural Previous HitgasTop is essential to the economic well-being of all citizens, private and corporate.