The University of Wyoming School of Energy Resources (SER) is looking for proposals from UW faculty members to investigate the Mowry Shale in the Powder River Basin (PRB).
Projects will be funded for up to eight months and have a maximum budget of $150,000.
They are looking for proposals that show the fundamental studies of the formation, including physics-based experimentation to advance the geomechanical and geochemical understanding of the Mowry Shale or data-driven approaches that draw insights from large data sets that can inform meaningful decision-making in real-time to improve Mowry wells.
The Mowry Shale is the largest hydrocarbon source for Lower Cretaceous petroleum systems in the PRB.
In 2009, the U.S Geological Survey estimated that there were 116 million to 307 million barrels of undiscovered oil and gas reserves in the Mowry Petroleum System in the PRB.
The Mowry Petroleum System has only hardly been a direct focus of unconventional gas and oil production and exploration.
“The Mowry Shale is a prolific oil and gas source rock, but it is geochemically and geomechanically complex, which has led to hydraulic fracture failures, low energy drives, and variable oil and water saturations,” Scott Quillinan, SER senior director of research said.
“This funding will help improve the understanding of the Mowry Shale to improve overall production and help to grow the unconventional oil and gas research being conducted at the University of Wyoming.”
The state of Wyoming produces over 80 million barrels of crude oil.
They also produce almost 1.4 trillion cubic feet of natural gas per year.
SER’s mission is to reduce uncertainty and increase the productivity of the Mowry Petroleum System to help state production.
Faculty members interested in submitting a proposal can email Quillian with the subject line: “Mowry Shale Proposal.”
The deadline for proposals is Monday, Aug. 1; the projects they selected will be announced by Monday, Aug. 15.
