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The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has published an assessment of the Bossier Formation, indicating that it contains approximately 343.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 3 million barrels of technically recoverable oil along the U.S. Gulf Coast.
The identification of gas and oil resources in the Bossier Formation
This discovery is based on recent exploratory drilling that has brought to light shale formations located at extreme depths. Experts note that organic-rich sediments lie about 18,000 feet below the Earth’s surface.
Likewise, the industry has identified specific sectors such as the Bossier Western Shale Gas Assessment Unit, popularly known as Western Haynesville or Waynesville. These areas show that access to reservoirs with higher thermal and geological pressure makes it possible to project extraction figures far higher than in previous decades.
Ned Mamula, Director of the USGS, has emphasized that the country’s economic stability is closely tied to these resources that have not yet been discovered by private industry. The agency’s mission, launched half a century ago following historic energy crises, continues to be to provide accurate data for strategic decision-making.
This assessment uses advanced methodologies to analyze conventional petroleum systems and unconventional ones, enabling land management agencies and the private sector to plan exploration operations on a solid scientific basis.
The implementation of horizontal drilling combined with hydraulic fracturing techniques has changed production capacity in complex fields. Christopher Schenk, a geologist on the research team, notes that technological advances have enabled formations once considered inaccessible to now be pillars of national production.
The report details that the area has contributed gas volumes, although what remains to be extracted is vastly greater. The volumes represent a supply assurance for U.S. consumption for more than a decade at the current rate of demand.
Source and photo: USGS