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Oil and Gas Section
Section Head:Rodney H. De Bruin
Email:rdebruin@uwyo.edu
Phone:(307) 766-2286 Ext. 226
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Grey Wolf # 558 drilling in Madden Field. Well was drilled to below 24,000 feet in the Madison
Limestone. Burlington resources is developing the deepest gas reservoir in the Rocky Mountain Region, in the Madison at
Madden. |
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About Us
The Oil and Gas Section is a major source for information on Wyoming’s natural gas and crude oil resources and industries.
Revenues from the combined production of oil and natural gas exceed the revenue to the State from any other industry. In 2001,
the last year for which figures are available, oil and gas production contributed over $905 million to state and local
governments in severance and property taxes, federal and state royalties, conservation mill levy, and sales and use taxes.
In addition, natural gas processing yields significant quantities of natural gas liquids, sulfur, helium, and
carbon dioxide.
Wyoming ranks seventh in the United States in the production of oil and second in the production of natural gas, sulfur, and
helium. Collectively over 26,000 wells produced 54.7 million barrels of oil and 1.75 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in 2002.
Production came from 20 of Wyoming’s 23
counties. At the beginning of 2002, Wyoming ranked second in the United States in proved
reserves of natural gas and seventh in proved reserves of crude oil (see table below). Proved reserves of natural gas were at
an all time high of 18.4 trillion cubic feet, while proved reserves of crude oil were 489 million barrels.
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The Oil and Gas Section published an updated statewide oil and gas map in 2002 as Map Series 55 (MS-55) that is available in hard copy
or on CD-ROM. This map shows the locations and areal extents of the oil and gas fields, which are color-coded by the predominant
age of their reservoir rocks. It also shows the locations of pipelines and the types of fluids they transport, the locations of
gas plants and refineries along with their processing capacities, and a list of productive reservoirs in each field. The Section
also prepared and published four oil and gas maps for different areas of the State in 2002. These maps are: Oil and Gas Fields
Map of the Powder River Basin
(MS-51); Oil and Gas Fields Map of the Greater Green River Basin and the Overthrust Belt (MS-52); Oil and Gas Fields Map of the
Northwestern and Central Wyoming Basins
(MS-53); and Oil and Gas Fields Map of the Southeastern Wyoming Basins (MS-54). These maps are available both
in hard copy and on CD-ROM and show the locations and areal extents of the oil and gas fields, which are color-coded by the
predominant age of their reservoir rocks. They also shows the locations of pipelines and the types of fluids they transport, the
locations of gas plants and refineries along with their processing capacities, and a list of productive reservoirs in each field.
The Section, in cooperation with the Coal Section, has prepared a number of maps of coalbed methane activity in the eastern
Powder River Basin, Campbell and Converse Counties, Wyoming, maps of coalbed methane activity in the western Powder River Basin,
Campbell, Sheridan, Johnson, Natrona, and Converse Counties, Wyoming, and maps of the combined areas. The newest versions of
these maps are designated as
MS-56, MS-57, and MS-58.
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These maps are updated approximately twice each year and show active wells and
permitted locations, gas pipelines and some compressor stations, some depths to coal, selected coal outcrops, and coal mine lease
areas. The coalbed methane play in this area of the Powder River Basin is currently one of the most active plays in the United
States. The play already has more than 11,000 producing wells that collectively produced over 327 billion cubic feet of gas in
2002. There are an estimated 25.2 trillion cubic feet of recoverable coalbed methane in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin and
another 6.5 trillion cubic feet of recoverable
coalbed methane in other Wyoming basins. A recently completed project of the section in
cooperation with the Coal, Mapping, and Hazards sections is a characterization of the Fort Union Formation, Lance Formation, Fox
Hills Sandstone, and the Pierre/Bearpaw Shale. These characterizations are part of a larger study that provides a stratigraphic
framework for the Wasatch Formation and its coal beds, the Fort Union Formation and its many coal beds, the Lance Formation, the
Fox Hills Sandstone, and the Bearpaw Shale/ Pierre Shale. That larger study, when completed, will include information about the
water quality of various coal aquifers as well as aquifers in sands in the Wasatch and Fort Union formations and will be
available from the Wyoming State Geological Survey as an interactive product on the internet. This study encompasses a total of
approximately 1850 square miles in the northern Powder River Basin of Wyoming and extends from township 49N to 58N and from range
69W to 87W (location map), These characterizations (open file under construction) include a write-up, a structure contour map,
an isopach map in all cases except for the Pierre/Bearpaw Shale, a data table, and a schematic cross section.
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Mike Murphy opening the Mike Murphy # 1 well. The well was drilled in 1884 and was the first
producing oil well in Wyoming. The well was the discovery for Dallas Field, which is still producing oil today. |
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