About 7 billion barrels of light, sweet crude oil is estimated to reside in the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale, a geological formation that covers 28 parishes in central and south Louisiana, and several southwestern Mississippi counties.
That小蝌蚪APP檚 a lot of black gold 小蝌蚪APP and a $9.7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy and several energy companies will enable researchers from the 小蝌蚪APP and four other institutions to better understand how the significant energy reserve can be recovered.
The Tuscaloosa Marine Shale has confounded the oil and gas industry for decades. Its unstable clay formations don小蝌蚪APP檛 respond well to traditional extraction methods, said Dr. Mehdi Mokhtari, an assistant professor in UL Lafayette小蝌蚪APP檚 Department of Petroleum Engineering.
The grant will fund the creation of a UL Lafayette-based Tuscaloosa Marine Shale Laboratory to 小蝌蚪APP渁ddress critical gaps in our understanding of the TMS to enable cost-efficient and environmentally sound recovery from this unconventional liquid-rich shale play,小蝌蚪APP said Mokhtari, who小蝌蚪APP檒l direct the consortium.
It will include a team of researchers from the Los Alamos National Lab, New Mexico; Missouri 小蝌蚪APP of Science and Technology, Rolla; the 小蝌蚪APP of Oklahoma, Norman; and the 小蝌蚪APP of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg.
The multidisciplinary group will include engineers, geophysicists, geologists and an economic development specialist, Mokhtari said.
小蝌蚪APP淥ur team will consider the engineering aspects of the TMS as well as the economic impact its development will have on the communities it touches.小蝌蚪APP
The grant money also will fund research by 18 graduate students at UL Lafayette and its partner institutions.
The U.S. Department of Energy announced the grant recipients Jan. 3. UL Lafayette and five other universities and companies were awarded a total of $30 million in federal money. Each institution also received funding from outside sources.
Other grant recipients include: C-Crete Technologies, Stafford, Texas; Gas Technology Institute, Des Plaines, Illinois; Texas A&M 小蝌蚪APP小蝌蚪APP檚 Engineering Experiment Station, College Station; the Colorado School of Mines, Golden; and Virginia Tech 小蝌蚪APP, Blacksburg.
The $9.7 million UL Lafayette received combines $3.68 million in federal funds and $5.98 million from industry sources.
The grants are part of an initiative by the Energy Department小蝌蚪APP檚 Office of Fossil Energy to examine unconventional oil and gas reservoirs, such as the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale.
The oil and gas industry considers a play 小蝌蚪APP the name it gives an area where oil and gas exist 小蝌蚪APP as unconventional based on its geographic size and geological makeup.
An unconventional play might encompass thousands, even millions of acres. The Tuscaloosa Marine Shale is 8 million acres.
By contrast, conventional hydrocarbon reservoirs have more limited boundaries.
In addition, unlike conventional oil and gas reservoirs, unconventional resources are usually trapped within formations with poor permeability, such as shale. That means the liquid is suspended, and retrieving it requires nontraditional methods of extraction.
Planning to develop an unconventional play requires years of detailed geological studies and preliminary pilot projects. It can be akin to finding a needle in an expensive haystack.
That小蝌蚪APP檚 why UL Lafayette小蝌蚪APP檚 planned Tuscaloosa Marine Shale Laboratory is so important, Mokhtari said. The success of emerging plays in other parts of the United States has shown unconventional resources to be viable for the future of hydrocarbon production.
小蝌蚪APP淭he development of unconventional resources has grown significantly in the past 10 years in Texas, North Dakota and along the East Coast,小蝌蚪APP Mokhtari said.
小蝌蚪APP淚t is now time for the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale in Louisiana and Mississippi. We expect interesting results to be generated by this consortium that will help meet the energy demands of the U.S. and increase its energy security.小蝌蚪APP
Caption: Tuscaloosa Marine Shale is 8 million acres. It includes 28 parishes in central and south Louisiana, and several southwestern Mississippi counties. (Credit: Courtesy of the Louisiana Geological Survey via the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources)