The Depositional Environment, Petrology, Mineralogy,...

The purpose of this paper is to explain the depositional environment, petrology, mineralogy, structure, exploration, technology, methods of extraction and processing, as well as the applications and economics of oil in the Greater Green River Basin. This paper will mainly focus on the oil shale within the basin but will also touch on some of the more conventional oil and gas plays as well. According to Crawford and Killen (2010), Oil Shale is defined as being â€Å"a sedimentary rock embedded with organic material called kerogen†¦ and has not been under the necessary heat, pressure, and/or depth for the right length of time to form crude oil†. Oil shale is typically found in silica and carbonate based rocks that are usually no greater than 900†¦show more content†¦With the United States current demand for oil at roughly 20 million barrels per day, this resource could potential last for another 400 years. These types of numbers suggest that if low-cost production methods can be developed and used effectively to recover the oil, the economic benefits would be great. In the following paper I intend to give clear and succinct information on how oil shale was deposited in the Greater Green River Basin, what it is made of, what was the maturation history of the shale, how the oil is recovered from very impermeable sedimentary units, how economics will play a role in its future as a reliable energy source, as well as the environmental impact of oil production in the basin. Structure of the Greater Green River Basin The Greater Green River Basin is a basin located in Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah. The mountains that surround the basin are the Wind River Mountains and Granite Mountains (Sweetwater Arch) to the north, the Uinta Mountains to the south, the Wyoming thrust belt to the west, and the Sierra Madre Mountains and the Rawlins Uplift to the East. The Great Green River Basin is further subdivided into sub-basins as mentioned earlier by intrabasinal anticlines. The largest anticline occupies the central portion of the basin and nearly separates the basin into equal east and west segments. There are also several other anticlinal