American Oil and Gas Reporter - September 2017 - 30

U.S. Gas Resource Base Hits 2.817 Qcf
GOLDEN, CO.-The United States
possesses a technically recoverable natural
gas resource base of 2.817 quadrillion
cubic feet (Qcf) as of year-end 2016, according to the Potential Gas Committee's
latest biennial assessment. PGC says this
is the highest resource evaluation in its
52-year history, exceeding the 2014 high
by 302 trillion cubic feet.
The increase resulted from reassessments of shale gas resources in the Atlantic, Gulf Coast, Mid-Continent and
Rocky Mountain areas, PGC says.
"The latest assessment by PGC confirms
that the United States has abundant resources of natural gas present in various
reservoirs, both on- and offshore," says
Alexei V. Milkov, professor of geology
and geological engineering, and director
of the Potential Gas Agency at the Colorado
School of Mines, which provides guidance
and technical assistance to the PGC.
PGC notes its year-end 2016 assessment of 2.817 Qcf includes 2.658 Qcf of
gas contained in "traditional" reservoirs
(conventional, tight sands, carbonates
and shales) and 159 Tcf in coalbed
methane reservoirs.
Compared with year-end 2014, PGC
says traditional resources increased by
302 Tcf, or 13 percent, while coalbed
methane resources remained essentially
unchanged (see Table 1).
PGC points out that its assessment of
technically recoverable resources does
not include proved gas reserves. When
the U.S. Energy Information Administration's calculation of proved reserves
(324 Tcf as of year-end 2015) are added
to PGC's potential resource estimate, the
committee says the United States' future
natural gas supply stands at a record

FIGURE 1
PGC Assessments by Area

Traditional
Gas (Tcf)

Coalbed
Methane (Tcf)

3.141 Qcf, an increase of 288 Tcf (10
percent) over the previous evaluation.
Milkov says, "New exploration, more
drilling, and continuous improvements
in completion and stimulation technologies
lead to better delineation and characterization of U.S. gas resources, especially
in shale and tight reservoirs. The record
gas resources assessed by the PGC, in
addition to robust domestic production
levels and booked reserves, paint a picture
of strong natural gas supply in the United
States for many years to come."
Geographic Distribution
PGC reports the Atlantic ranks as the
country's richest resource area with 39
percent of total U.S. traditional gas resources,
followed by the Gulf Coast (including the
Gulf of Mexico) with 20 percent, the Rocky

TABLE 1
Year-End 2016 Resource Assessment versus Year-End 2014
Mean Values,
Trillion Cubic Feet
2016
2014

Change from
2014 to 2016
Tcf
%

Traditional Gas Resources:
- Probable resources (current ﬁelds)
- Possible resources (new ﬁelds)
- Speculative resources (frontier)
- Total

993.8
1,056.9
607.5
2,658.3

848.4
930.1
586.1
2,356.8

+301.5

Coalbed Methane Resources:
- Probable resources (current ﬁelds)
- Possible resources (new ﬁelds)
- Speculative resources (frontier)
- Total

15.0
48.0
95.7
158.7

14.2
48.3
95.7
158.1

+0.6

+0.4

2,817.0

2,514.9

+302.1

+12.0

+288.1

+10.1

Resource Category

Total Potential Resources
Proved Gas Reserves (EIA)
U.S. Future Gas Supply

324.3*
3,141.3

338.3**
2,853.2

* Total gas (dry and wet); latest number available is year-end 2015
** Dry gas only

30 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

+12.8

Mountains with 17 percent, and the MidContinent with 14 percent. Geographic resource estimates are shown in Figure 1.
The largest volumetric gains (214 Tcf
or 26 percent) were reported in the Atlantic
area, PGC says, which went from 833.4
Tcf at year-end 2014 to 1.0475 Qcf at
year-end 2016. "The major reason for
the increase is new drilling and production
results from Marcellus, Utica and
Rogersville shale plays in the Appalachian
Basin," the committee reveals. "Specifically, the Utica Shale is now assessed to
have a considerably larger sweet spot
with highly productive wells."
Mid-Continent assessments rose from
296.4 Tcf to 369.6 Tcf (25 percent), reflecting intensive development of the
Woodford Shale in the Anadarko Basin
(especially in Oklahoma's SCOOP and
STACK plays) and the Barnett Shale in
the Fort Worth Basin, as well as expansion
of the Woodford and Mississippian shales
in the Permian Basin (Alpine High in
Southwest Texas), PGC continues.
"In addition to this significant growth
from shale plays, additional resources
were identified in the conventional and
tight reservoirs in the Anadarko and Permian basins as wells with higher estimated
ultimate recoveries were drilled," the
committee says.
Gas resources in the Rocky Mountain
area increased from 430.9 Tcf to 437.1
Tcf (1.4 percent). "This resource growth
reflects developments in the Mancos and
the Niobrara plays in the Piceance Basin,"
PGC observes.
Although the Gulf Coast area had a
modest overall increase of only 1.5 Tcf
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