scholarly journals Regional-scale permeability by heat flow calibration in the Powder River Basin, Wyoming

2001 ◽  
Vol 28 (16) ◽  
pp. 3211-3214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian J. O. L. McPherson ◽  
Peter C. Lichtner ◽  
Craig B. Forster ◽  
Barret S. Cole
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flow ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Powder River Basin

Thermal analysis of the southern Powder River Basin, Wyoming

Geophysics ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 61 (6) ◽  
pp. 1689-1701 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian J. O. L. McPherson ◽  
David S. Chapman
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flow ◽  
Temperature Gradient ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Variable Temperature ◽  
Geothermal Gradient ◽  
Powder River Basin ◽  
Temperature Fields ◽  
Inversion Method ◽  
Gradient Model ◽  
Salt Creek

Temperature and geologic data from over 3000 oil and gas wells within a 180 km × 30 km area that transect across the southern Powder River Basin in Wyoming, U.S.A., were used to determine the present thermal regime of the basin. Three‐dimensional temperature fields within the transect, based on corrected bottomhole temperatures (BHTs) and other geologic information, were assessed using: (1) A laterally constant temperature gradient model in conjunction with an [Formula: see text] norm inversion method, and (2) a laterally variable temperature gradient model in conjunction with a stochastic inversion technique. The mean geothermal gradient in the transect is 29°C/km, but important lateral variations in the geothermal gradient exist. The average heat flow for the southern Powder River Basin is [Formula: see text] with systematic variations between [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] along the transect. Extremely high local heat flow (values up to [Formula: see text]) in the vicinity of the Teapot Dome and the Salt Creek Anticline and low heat flow of [Formula: see text] occurring locally near the northeast end of the transect are likely caused by groundwater movement.

Split Estate and Wyoming’s Orphaned Well Crisis: The Case of Coalbed Methane Reclamation in the Powder River Basin, Wyoming

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn Bills Walsh
Keyword(s):  
Natural Gas ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Technological Innovation ◽  
Coalbed Methane ◽  
Powder River Basin ◽  
Gas Wells ◽  
Mineral Rights ◽  
Split Estate ◽  
Legal Condition

This case presents the stakeholder conflicts that emerge during the development and subsequent reclamation of abandoned natural gas wells in Wyoming where split estate, or the separation of surface land and mineral rights from one another, occurs. From 1998 to 2008, the Powder River Basin of northeastern Wyoming experienced an energy boom as a result of technological innovation that enabled the extraction of coalbed methane (CBM). The boom resulted in over 16,000 wells being drilled in this 20,000 square-mile region in a single decade. As of May 2017, 4,149 natural gas wells now sit orphaned in Wyoming as a result of industry bankruptcy and abandonment. The current orphaned wells crisis was partially enabled by the patchwork of surface and mineral ownership in Wyoming that is a result of a legal condition referred to as split estate. As the CBM boom unfolded in this landscape and then began to wane, challenges emerged most notably surrounding stalled reclamation activities. This case illuminates these challenges highlighting two instances when split estate contributed to issues between landowners and industry operators which escalated to litigation.

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