USGS is doing seismography and exploratory drilling?
That is my question as well...since when does the USGS conduct grass-roots exploration projects?
It may be that the GS has compiled reservoir reserves from independents' drilling on Federal leases??
I wondered about that as well. the *FEDS* are looking???
“USGS is doing seismography and exploratory drilling?”
It does sound suspisciously like honest, productive work for Government, but I guess they need to account for the the stuff they are leasing out to private firms, to project/account for royalties.
Sonic testing starts in just a few months, in the yuge recently opened areas in the Arctic and offshore on the continental shelf. (Thank you President Trump - MAGA!)
We will soon be mapping those reserves with the latest technology.
Expect to hear of more yuge finds this year.
MAGA!
They do assessments of data collected by others, but have been known to do seismographic tests on unleased lands.
From the USGS page on this story:
USGS is the only provider of publicly available estimates of undiscovered technically recoverable oil and gas resources of onshore lands and offshore state waters. The USGS Delaware Basin Wolfcamp shale and Bone Spring Formation assessment was undertaken as part of a nationwide project assessing domestic petroleum basins using standardized methodology and protocols.