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News
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The Amerasia Basin Petroleum Province encompasses the Canada Basin and the sediment prisms along the Alaska and Canada margins, outboard from basinward margins (hingelines) of the rift shoulders that formed during extensional opening of the Canada Basin. The province includes... |
Friday, November 16, 2012 Type: Publication
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The Arctic Alaska Petroleum Province encompasses all lands and adjacent continental shelf areas north of the Brooks Range-Herald arch tectonic belts and south of the northern (outboard) margin of the Alaska rift shoulder. Even though only a small part is thoroughly explored, ... |
Friday, November 16, 2012 Type: Publication
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On May 2, 2012 the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the completion of the field testing phase of the Ignik Sikumi gas hydrate production test well project on the North Slope of Alaska. This test was an important step forward in gas hydrate research... |
Thursday, May 24, 2012 Type: Field Report
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National Oil and Gas Assessment Project: The USGS estimated potential, technically recoverable oil and gas resources for source rocks of the Alaska North Slope. Estimates (95-percent to 5-percent probability) range from zero to 2 billion barrels of oil and from zero to nearly 80 trillion cubic... |
Friday, February 24, 2012 Type: Press Release & Publication
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USGS Scientific Investigations Report: Gas Hydrate Prospecting Using Well Cuttings and Mud-Gas Geochemistry from 35 Wells, North Slope, Alaska. Part of a USGS and Bureau of Land Management gas hydrate research collaboration. |
Sunday, February 12, 2012 Type: Publication
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The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has completed an assessment of the volumes of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and gas resources in conventional and continuous accumulations in Cook Inlet. The assessment used a geology-based methodology and results from new scientific research by the USGS... |
Sunday, January 01, 2012 Type: Publication
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USGS Professional Paper 1784-A: Constraining the Age and Magnitude of Uplift in the Northern National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPRA)—Apatite Fission-Track Analysis of Samples from Three Wells. The results from these wells help to define the broad geometry of the uplift... |
Tuesday, August 09, 2011 Type: Publication
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Significant Natural Gas Resources Remain to Be Discovered in Cook Inlet, Alaska: Assessment of Undiscovered Oil and Gas Resources of the Cook Inlet Region, South-Central Alaska, 2011... |
Tuesday, June 28, 2011 Type: Press Release & Publication
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USGS asked to conduct an initial, independent evaluation of the science needs that would inform the Administration’s consideration of the right places and the right ways in which to develop oil and gas resources in the Arctic Outer Continental Shelf (OCS)... |
Thursday, June 23, 2011 Type: Publication
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This report provides digital geographic information systems (GIS) files of maps for each of the 24 plays considered in the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 2010 updated petroleum resource assessment of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPRA) (Houseknecht and others, 2010). These are the... |
Wednesday, May 25, 2011 Type: Publication
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This database is a compilation of published and nonconfidential unpublished coal data from Alaska. Although coal occurs in isolated areas throughout Alaska, this study includes data only from the Cook Inlet and North Slope areas. The data include entries from and interpretations of oil and gas... |
Wednesday, May 11, 2011 Type: Publication
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The U.S. Geological Survey assessment on the economic recoverability of undiscovered, conventional oil and gas resources within the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPRA) and adjacent state waters is now available online. |
Wednesday, May 04, 2011 Type: Press Release
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Estimating the amount of conductive and nonconductive constituents in the pore space of sediments by using electrical resistivity logs generally loses accuracy where clays are present in the reservoir. Many different methods and clay models have been proposed to account for the conductivity of... |
Friday, January 28, 2011 Type: Publication
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"These new findings underscore the challenge of predicting whether oil or gas will be found in frontier areas and the importance of analyzing the geologic characteristics and history of an area in order to understand the oil and gas resources,” explains USGS Director, Dr. Marcia McNutt. |
Sunday, October 03, 2010 Type: Press Release & Publication
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Energy costs in rural Alaskan communities are substantial. Diesel fuel, which must be delivered by barge or plane, is used for local power generation in most off-grid communities. |
Friday, September 17, 2010 Type: Publication
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The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has published assessments by geologists of undiscovered conventional oil and gas accumulations in the North Slope of Alaska; these assessments contain a set of scientifically based estimates of undiscovered, technically recoverable quantities of oil and gas in... |
Saturday, August 01, 2009 Type: Publication
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In 2008, USGS scientists completed the first assessment of the undiscovered, technically recoverable gas-hydrate resources beneath the North Slope of Alaska. This assessment indicates the existence of technically recoverable gas-hydrate resources—that is, resources that can be discovered, developed,... |
Wednesday, November 12, 2008 Type: Press Release & Publication
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Study indicates doubling of coastal erosion rate in past 50 years along a segment of the Arctic coast of Alaska. |
Monday, July 02, 2007 Type: Press Release
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Overview
There are several energy-related efforts currently under way in Alaska. Geographically, these range from the Alaska Peninsula to the North Slope. Several are collaborative efforts with Federal and State agencies and Alaska Native villages. These projects:
- Circum-Arctic Basins Oil & Gas Assessment An ongoing effort of the World Energy Project
- Geologic Framework and Assessment Studies, North Slope of Alaska including the National Petroleum Reserve, Alaska (NPRA) and Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) 1002 Area
- Gas Hydrate Studies in northern Alaska
- Coalbed Gas Studies
- Digital Geologic Map Compilation
- Interior Alaska Province Review and Yukon Flats Assessment
- South Alaska Province Review
Southward view across Brooks Range
foothills. Nanushuk Formation in
foreground. ( Larger Image).
Alaska Energy Issues
Alaska’s scenic wilderness, its Arctic ecosystems with their unique flora and fauna, and its significant potential for energy and mineral resources are unmatched by any other onshore region of the U.S. Thus, the accurate and unbiased scientific data provided by the U.S. Geological Survey are crucial to the Federal, State, and Native organizations that manage Alaska’s resources to meet the challenge of balancing America’s needs for nonrenewable resources and a clean and healthy environment.
David Houseknecht
Project Chief
Research
National Petroleum Reserve
in Alaska (NPRA)
Assessment of Undiscovered Oil and Gas Resources of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPRA)
Current work focused on assessment of the area west of NPRA and aggregation of all North Slope assessments with an update of the economics, including natural gas.
The 2010 assessment —supersede those of a previous assessment completed by the USGS in 2002.
[+] Go to Research Page
Assessment of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) 1002 Area
of the 1.5-million-acre coastal plain ("1002 area") in recognition of the areaís potentially enormous oil and gas resources and its importance as wildlife habitat. A report on the resources (including petroleum) of the 1002 area was submitted in 1987 to Congress by the Department of the Interior (DOI).
[+] Go to Research Page
Oil and Gas Assessment of Central North Slope, Alaska
In 2005 the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) completed an assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources of the central Alaska North Slope and the adjacent offshore belonging to the State of Alaska. This area lies between the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and extends from the Brooks Range northward to the State-Federal offshore boundary.... [+]
Oil and Gas Assessment of Central North Slope, Alaska, 2005
USGS Fact Sheet 2005-3043
U.S. Geological Survey 2005 Oil and Gas Resource Assessment of the Central North Slope, Alaska: Play Maps and Results. By Christopher P. Garrity, David W. Houseknecht, Kenneth J. Bird, Christopher J. Potter, Thomas E. Moore, Philip H. Nelson, and Christopher J. Schenk. USGS Open-File Report 2005-1182
Economics of Undiscovered Oil and Gas in the Central North Slope, Alaska. By Emil D. Attanasi, Kenneth J. Bird, and Philip A. Freeman. USGS National Assessment of Oil and Gas Fact Sheet 2005-3120
Economics of Undiscovered Oil and Gas in the Central North Slope, Alaska. By Emil D Attanasi and Philip A. Freeman. USGS Open-File Report 2005-1276
Gas Hydrates in Northern Alaska
Gas Hydrate Studies in Northern Alaska
In 2008 USGS completed the first assessment of the undiscovered technically recoverable gashydrate resources on the North Slope of Alaska. Using a geologybased assessment methodology, the USGS estimates that there are about 85 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of undiscovered, technically recoverable gas resources within gas hydrates in northern Alaska.
[+] Go to Press Release
Digital Geologic Map Compilation
Digital Geologic Map Compilation
Compilation of existing geologic maps of the northern foothills of the Brooks Range, from the Chukchi Sea eastward to the Canadian border. This work is a collaboration between the USGS and the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys (DGGS) and the Division of Oil and Gas.
[+] Go to Research Page
NPRA Seismic Data Archive
NPRA Seismic Data Archive
The National Petroleum Reserve, Alaska, (NPRA) Legacy Data Archive represents one of the largest geological and geophysical data sets held by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). From 1944 to 1953 the U.S. Navy operated a large-scale exploration of the then Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 4, drilling 36 test wells and 45 core tests. A second extensive exploration program was operated between 1974 and 1982. ...
[+] Go to Research Page
Data
National Oil and Gas Assessment
The Energy Resources Program provides periodic assessments of the oil and natural gas endowment of the United States.
Circum-Arctic Basins Oil & Gas Assessment An ongoing effort of the World Energy Project that includes northern Alaska.
Multimedia
Page Last Modified: Friday, October 05, 2012
NPRAWEBver2010 slides NPRAWEBver2010 slides
Southward view across Brooks Range foothills. Nanushuk Formation in foreground.
Photo by Dave Houseknecht (USGS).
Go to the Mulitimedia Gallery (for image details)
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Publication Search
A searchable database of thousands of published sources, dating back several decades
Find Data
USGS Energy Data Finder: Download GIS and tabular data, databases, geospatial web services (ArcGIS, WMS, KML)
EnergyVision
A single map viewer portal incorporating a range of maps, data and services
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