Naval Oil Shale Reserve Research Articles

Abstract: Oil and Gas Potential of Naval Oil Shale Reserve No. 2 (NOSR-2), Utah 

Abstract: Oil and Gas Potential of Naval Oil Shale Reserve No. 2 (NOSR-2), Utah 

Case Study of Gas Migration in the Wasatch and Mesaverde Formations of the Piceance Basin, Colorado

Summary The U.S. DOE Morgantown Energy Technology Center (METC) conducted a reservoir simulation study and an engineering analysis on gas migration for two tight lenticular sandstone units, the Wasatch formation and the Mesaverde group, in Garfield County, CO. The study quantified potential gas loss through migration from the Naval Oil Shale Reserve (NOSR) No. 3 (Fig. 1) to nearby producing wells located in the Rulison field and forecasted production for proposed NOSR No. 3 offset wells located at previously selected sites, offsetting commercial wells outside the reserve. After the reservoirs were characterized, production was forecasted by use of a reservoir simulator to history match actual production. A dual-porosity reservoir simulator, developed specifically for naturally fractured gas-producing reservoirs, and reservoir engineering calculations were used in the study. The study followed two extensive DOE field testing programs, a nearby multiwell experiment (MWX), and a special Mesaverde test well (1XM9) drilled in NOSR No. 3 (see Figs. 1 and 2). These DOE field tests provided geologic information and values for reservoir parameters that control production from this unconventional gas resource. In addition to the results from the two field experiments, the study used a detailed geologic analysis and production data from nearby industry wells to characterize the producing formations.

Mechanical properties of oil shale and overlying strata, naval oil shale reserve, anvil points, colo : Dolinar, D R; Horino, F G; Hooker, V E US Bureau of Mines report RI 8608, 1982, 43P

Mechanical properties of oil shale and overlying strata, naval oil shale reserve, anvil points, colo : Dolinar, D R; Horino, F G; Hooker, V E US Bureau of Mines report RI 8608, 1982, 43P

Tensile Strengths of Colorado and Utah Oil Shales

Ultimate tensile strength of Green River Formation oil shale along the bedding planes is a mechanical property parameter important to predicting how oil shale will break. This is particularly important to in situ fragmentation. The split cylinder test was reviewed and critically evaluated in detail to assure its applicability to this study. Test specimens representing oil shales of the Mahogany zone sections of cores taken from the Naval Oil Shale Reserve No. 1 in Colorado and from the Bonanza area in Utah were subjected to the split cylinder test. Linear regression equations relating ultimate tensile strength along the bedding planes to volume percent of organic matter in the rock were developed from the test data. The Utah and Colorado equations are statistically similar, corresponding to their identical mineralogy. A similar equation representing the clay-rich, dolomitepoor Tipton member of Wyoming's Green River formation differed sharply, demonstrating an emphatic mineralogicaS influence with major variations.

Oil-Shale Resources of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming

Abstract This paper summarizes the data on the oil-shale deposits of westernColorado, Utah and Wyoming. It is based on published reports by the U. S.Geological Survey, on the results of core drilling and sampling by the Bureauof Mines, on the drill cuttings from the General Petroleum well, on a recentunpublished report by the Geological Survey on the geology of Naval Oil-ShaleReserves No. I and No.2, and from information supplied by geologists of privatecompanies who have investigated the Green River formation. The paper alsocontains a revised estimate of the grade and tonnage of minable thicknesses ofoil shale of western Colorado. Introduction The oil shales of the Green River formation of Colorado, Utah and Wyomingcomprise an important natural resource for the production of synthetic liquidfuels. The oil shale in western Colorado generally is more amenable toexploitation, apparently richer, and probably more persistent than in Utah orWyoming. Work is now being done by the Bureau of Mines near Rifle, Colo. to ascertainthe best procedures for mining the oil shale, producing shale oil from the oilshale, and converting the oil into more salable products. As a part of thisprogram, holes were drilled and cores were taken of the oil shale on NavalOil-Shale Reserve No. 1. In addition, drill cuttings were obtained from a welldrilled through the Green River formation by the General Petroleum Co. about 18miles northerly of the Naval Oil-Shale Reserve. Geology During middle Eocene time a broad, shallow body of water, now called UintaLake, covered northwestern Colorado and east-central Utah; a similar lake, known as Gosiute Lake, was in southwestern Wyoming. Each of these contemporarylakes was bounded by high hills; the drainage was to the south. The Green Riverformation was laid down as sediments in the bottoms of these lakes. T.P. 2358