The Mancos Shale: time for another look

摘要

A new resource assessment gives this unconventional play world-class status. The Mancos Shale of the Rocky Mountain Region has long been known as a major source rock for the various producing formations of the Rocky Mountain sub-basins. In June 2016 the U.S. Geological Survey conducted a new resource assessment of the Mancos within the Piceance Basin of Colorado and Utah. The revised assessment has placed the Mancos in the same playing field as the Marcellus in terms of its technically recoverable shale gas resource potential. The Mancos is now estimated to contain 1.9 Tcm (66.3 Tcf) of technically recoverable shale gas and 74 MMbbl of shale oil resources within the Piceance Basin, specifically. These numbers are much improved over an earlier estimate of 595 Bcm (21 Tcf) of technically recoverable resources estimated by the Energy Information Administration in 2009.