February 13, 2019
Kerogen's nanostructure determines oil and gas reservoir capacity
The petroleum and natural gas that power engines and heat homes are extracted from the complex networks of nooks and crannies that permeate …
The EARTH archive
Oil and Gas Development
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13 articles · Page 1 of 1
May 1, 2018
Airport earthquakes continued after injection ended
Since Oct. 31, 2008, when seismic activity was first detected, hundreds of earthquakes smaller than magnitude 3.4 have peppered a fault zone that …
August 11, 2017
Coatings may prevent pipeline clogs
When ice forms in household water pipes, blockages and expansion can cause the pipes to burst. Similar problems can arise in the transportation …
April 18, 2017
Did Jurassic tectonics lead to supergiant oilfields?
More than 6 percent of global oil production comes from a single oilfield: the supergiant Ghawar oilfield in eastern Saudi Arabia, which produces …
September 20, 2016
Water use soared as workers flocked to North Dakota's oilfields
Amid North Dakota’s oil boom, about 24,000 temporary oilfield workers moved to Williams County — in the state’s Bakken oil shale region — between …
August 23, 2016
Benchmarks: September 23, 1933: The U.S. oil industry arrives in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia currently produces about 11 million barrels of oil per day, edging out Russia and the U.S. to rank first in the world in production, …
November 20, 2015
Benchmarks: August 2, 1922: Marines invade Teapot Dome, deepen scandal
Early in the morning of Aug. 2, 1922, soldiers from the United States Marine Corps arrived at the train station in Casper, Wyo. They had been …
September 1, 2015
Benchmarks: October 9, 1865: First Successful U.S. Oil Pipeline
When Americans think of domestic oil, they likely think of Texas, Alaska or California — vast fields of towering derricks and quietly dipping oil …
July 21, 2014
Geologic Column: By train or pipeline: That is the question
My wife and I (and our 49-year marriage) recently survived a 48-hour train trip from Chicago to Portland aboard Amtrak’s aptly-named “Empire …
October 15, 2013
Gaming the system in the Caspian Sea: Can game theory solve a decades-old dispute?
Water-rights disputes are never easy. Whether they are over pumping from aquifers shared among adjacent landowners, allocation of resources at …
August 14, 2013
Building resource corridors in Afghanistan: A solution to an interminable war?
Afghanistan has been ravaged by decades-long conflicts that have left it economically depressed, but the country also holds a potentially huge …
September 21, 2012
The Bakken boom and the new wild west: A young geologist's perspective
Like many of my colleagues, I have found myself in awe of the drastically changing energy landscape around me. Both technologically and …
February 23, 2012
Listening for gas bubbles
Passive acoustic technology detects natural gas leaks and seeps In recent decades, active acoustic surveys have been used to detect methane seeps …