USGS allows access to unique database

Petroleum News

The U.S. Geological Survey said March 24 that the public now can access a USGS database that includes chemical analysis of crude oil, natural gas and rock samples from thousands of locations worldwide. The agency said it is the only database of its kind and this is the first time it has been made available to the public.

USGS scientists use the information in the organic geochemistry database to assess domestic and world energy resources. The agency said the information will help people understand the geochemistry of many of the world’s major oil and gas producing regions.

“It will also be a useful reference for federal, state, and local agencies involved in land and resource planning, oil and gas production, oil and gas assessments, public safety, and environmental concerns. The database will also be a valuable tool for academic research into the processes responsible for the formation and accumulation of petroleum,” USGS said in its press release.

Information within the database includes rock pyrolysis data, organic mass spectrometry, vitrinite reflectance, gas chromatography, column chromatography, stable carbon isotopes, and a number of other related petroleum geochemical analyses. The sample types are primarily rock, oil, and gas samples collected from outcrops or from exploratory or production wells.

To access the data base go to http://energy.cr.usgs.gov/other/oglab/ogindex.htm/.