Near- to Mid-Term Energy Mineral
Sources: Bridge to the Future
for Alternative Energy
William A. Ambrose
April 3, 2007
Bureau of Economic Geology
John A. and Katherine G. Jackson
School of Geosciences
Energy Minerals Division
American Association of
Petroleum Geologists
Acknowledgments
● Jeremy Platt, Laura Wray, and Creties Jenkins
EMD Region Councilors
Jeffrey R. Levine (Southwest)
Michael A. Wiley (Gulf Coast)
Charles Boyer III (Eastern)
Ed Ratchford (Mid-Continent)
James G. Clough (Pacific)
Laura L. Wray (Rocky Mountain)
Publication was authorized by the Director, Bureau of Economic Geology,
The University of Texas at Austin
Data Sources
AAPG
(Energy Minerals Division)
U.S. Department of Energy
Energy Information Agency
USGS
Gas Technology Institute
SMU Geothermal Laboratory
Outline
● Global and US Energy Supply
● Energy Minerals
-Coal
-Coalbed Methane
-Gas Shales
-Oil Shale
-Gas Hydrates
-Uranium
-Tar Sands
-Geothermal Energy
● Summary
Billion barrels oil equivalent yr-1
Estimates of 21st century
World energy supplies
Billion barrels oil equivalent
1900
Alternatives
Coal
Natural Gas
Oil
2000
2100
Quadrillion (1015) Btu
Energy Resource Distribution
USDOE
U. S. Unconventional Gas Share of
Production (Includes Tight Gas)
100%
U. S. Technically Recoverable (Tcf)
80%
Unconventional
Gas Resources
60%
Tight
Gas:
Coalbed
Methane:
40%
Shale Gas:
20%
Geopressured:
250
60
55
1,100?
0%
EIA (2005)
1990
Unconventional Gas
2003
2025
Other Domestic Production
Modified from EIA (2005)
U. S.
Electricity Generation
2002 Generation
(million MWh)
Coal
Oil
Nat. Gas
Nuclear
Hydro
Renewable/Other
31
15.5
3.1
Courtesy NRG and CEED
Energy Mineral Resources
“Earth materials (other than conventional oil and natural gas)
capable of being produced for energy.”
EMD (2007)
● Resources
-Coal
-Coalbed Methane
-Gas Shales
-Oil Shale
-Gas Hydrates
-Uranium
-Tar Sands
-Geothermal
Coal-Fired
Capacity Additions
Capacity, MW
EIA (2005)
FutureGen: Coal Gasification
FutureGen
Electric transmission lines
Power
block
Gasifier
● Flexible fuel source
● Near-zero-emission gasifier
● CO2 , H2 pipelines
CO22 used
for enhanced
oil recovery
Plume from CO22
injected into
saline aquifer
● Stacked storage
-EOR
-Deep brine-bearing fm.
BEG (2006)
Miscible CO2-EOR Potential: 4.7 BBbl in Gulf Coast
Bituminous
Lignite
Holtz and others (2005)
USGS (2007)
Coalbed Methane
Fruitland Fm.
San Juan Basin
Ferron CBM field, Utah


Accounts for ~10% of US dry natural gas
reserves.
Annual US production almost 2 Tcf.
Historical U.S. Coalbed Methane Production
Production
1,800
1.8
Annual (Tcf)
Annaul Production (Bcf)
U. S. CBM Resources
1,500
1,200
Total Resources: 749 Tcf
900
600
1980
300
0
1970
1980
2000
GRI/DOE2000
1990
Modified from Scott and others (1995)
U.S. Gas Shale Basins and Resources
Total Shale Gas-In-Place:
467-607 Tcf
Schlumberger (2005)
Estimated Recoverable:
55-100 Tcf
Mid-Continent Shale-Gas Basins
Fayetteville Shale
● 2.5 million acres
leased
● ~180 wells: end 2006
● IP: 2-3 MMcfd for
horizontal wells
Modified from ARI (2006)
World Oil Shale Resources
●1 Ton of rock=
1 Barrel of oil
●2.6 Trillion Barrels
worldwide
●Current activity:
Brazil, China,
Estonia
●Other deposits in
Australia, Jordan
●US activity:
Utah, Colorado
(ended 1991)
Kerogen: bulk of
organic material
USDOE
Oil Shale Mining and Processing
Stuart Project, Queensland
Mining
Strip and Open Pit
Underground Retort
Processing
Crushing
Separation
Heating to 450°C (H2, H2O)
Southern Pacific Petroleum
In-Situ Conversion
US Resources & Production
1.2-1.8 Trillion bbl in place
4.5 MMBbl, 1985-1990
Shell E&P
Worldwide
Gas Hydrate
Distribution
USGS (2002)
Seafloor Mound
Arctic Gas Hydrate
Mallik Test in Canada
USGS (2004)
● Up to 590 Tcf in onshore Alaska
North slope (Collett, 2004)
● 500 to 4,000 ft depths
● Thermogenic source
● Shallow sand reservoir
below permafrost
Hunter et al. (2004)
U. S. Uranium Deposits
U3O8 reserves*, $72.00/lb.
Source: Uranium Industry Annual 2002
www.stockinterview.com
Yellowcake
Wyoming:
New Mexico:
AZ, CO, UT:
Texas:
255
245
108
14
*million pounds
Source: EIA (2006)
Spot Price, Jan. 15, 2007: $72.00/lb.
(Ux Consulting Company, LLC)
US Uranium Workforce
UEC, DOE
Nuclear Power Plant Sites
We
104 Reactors
each generating >100 MW
55 MMlb. of U3O8 yr-1 consumed
2.7 MMlb. yr-1 produced
NuStart
$520 million project
License application: 2008
Construction: 2010
Completion: 2014
NuStart Candidate Site
American Nuclear
Society, Inc.
World Tar Sands
And Heavy Oil Resources
Conventional Crude Oil
1.02 trillion barrels
Heavy Hydrocarbons
5.6 trillion barrels
Syncrude Canada Ltd.
(2004)
Petroleum Equities. Inc. (2003)
Geothermal: Surface Heat Flow
Geothermal Power
Geothermal Power Plant
Modified from SMU Geothermal Laboratory (2004)
Energy Minerals Summary
Commodity U. S. Resources
(+)
(–)
Coal
3,968 Billion Tons
Abundant
Env. Impact
Coalbed Gas
749 Tcf
Abundant
Water Disposal
Gas Shales
467-607 Tcf
Self-sourced
Var. Production
Oil Shale
1.2-1.8 Trillion bbl
Abundant
Expensive
Gas Hydrates
>10,000 Tcf?
Worldwide
Recovery
Uranium
622 MMlb. @ $72/lb.
Low CO2
Disposal
Bitumen
76.2 Billion bbl
Shallow
CO2 Emissions
Geothermal
2.4 x 1019 joules
Low CO2
Distribution