USGS Estimates 21 Million Barrels of Oil and 27
Billion Cubic Feet of Gas in the Monterey Formation
of the San Joaquin Basin, California
The U.S.
Geological Survey recently completed its first
assessment of continuous resources in the
Monterey Formation in California’s San Joaquin
Basin, estimating mean volumes of 21 million
barrels of oil, 27 billion cubic feet of gas,
and 1 million barrels of natural gas liquids.
The volume estimated in the Monterey Formation
is small,
compared to previous USGS estimates of
conventional resources in the San Joaquin. The
assessment team concluded that part of the
reason for this is that most of the petroleum
that originated in the Monterey Formation has
escaped and migrated to fill the shallower
conventional reservoirs. As a result, most
exploratory wells in the deep basin are unlikely
to be successful.
This assessment
only covered the oil and gas generating portions
of the Monterey Formation in the San Joaquin
Basin. Other portions of the Monterey can be
found in the nearby Los Angeles, Santa Maria,
and Ventura Basins. USGS is assessing the oil
and gas generating portions of the Monterey in
those Basins and will publish those as soon as
the studies are complete.
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