Enough natural gas to supply the United States for nearly a year and enough oil to meet Americans' needs for more than two months were recently identified in Texas' Permian Basin, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
An assessment of undiscovered natural gas and oil in the Woodford and Barnett shales in the Permian Basin estimated 28.3 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, enough to supply the U.S. for about 10 months, and 1.6 billion barrels of oil, roughly a 10-week supply for the nation.
The assessment was released on Jan. 14.
"The U.S. economy and our way of life depend on energy, and USGS oil and gas assessments point to resources that industry hasn't discovered yet," USGS Director Ned Mamula said in a statement.
"In this case, we have assessed there are significant undiscovered resources in the Woodford and Barnett shales in the Permian Basin."
The oil estimate is more than 60 times the roughly 26 million barrels the Woodford and Barnett shales have produced since the late 1990s.
The shales occur at depths of up to 20,000 feet, deeper than many other resources in the Permian Basin.
The USGS credited advances in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling for making the resources technically recoverable.
"The shift to horizontal drilling with fracking has revolutionized oil production, and we've changed with it," USGS geologist Christopher Schenk said in a statement.
The USGS noted the estimates represent "undiscovered" resources, meaning they have not been proven through drilling but are considered recoverable with current technology.
The assessment builds on the Permian's legacy as one of the world's most prolific oil-producing regions, spanning about 75,000 square miles across West Texas and New Mexico.
It is the nation's top oil-producing area.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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