Detroit

Los Angeles

Chicago

Atlanta

Dallas

New York City

Boston

Houston

Washington

Miami

Philadelphia

Denver

San Jose

Seattle

Cleveland

Baltimore

Saint Louis

Tulsa

Phoenix San Diego

Pittsburgh

Kansas City

Portland

Indianapolis

Buffalo

Akron

Milwaukee

Camden Sacramento

Flint

Richmond

Memphis

Omaha

Oakland

Dayton

Nashville

MinneapolisSaint Paul

Cincinnati

San Antonio

Tampa

Rochester

Columbus

Wichita

Birmingham

Toledo

Fort

Worth

Tucson

Concord

Louisville

Norfolk

Hartford

Orlando

Spokane

Charlotte

Tacoma

Oklahoma

City

Eugene

Knoxville

Sarasota

Lansing

Jackson

Jacksonville

Marietta

Austin

Salt Lake City

Springfield

Providence

Clearwater

New Orleans

Las Vegas

Trenton

Pensacola

Albuquerque

Augusta

Winston-Salem

Roanoke

Baton Rouge

Mobile

Syracuse

Youngstown

Huntsville

Chattanooga

El Paso

Greenville

Fort Wayne

Fort LauderdaleWest Palm Beach

Grand

Rapids

Duluth

Vancouver

Covington

Little Rock

Newport NewsHampton

Cocoa

Beach

TEXAS

UTAH

MONTANA

NEVADA

CALIFORNIA

IDAHO

ARIZONA

OREGON

IOWA

KANSAS

WYOMING

NEW MEXICO

COLORADO

OHIO

MISSOURI

NEBRASKA

MINNESOTA

ILLINOIS

GEORGIA

FLORIDA

OKLAHOMA

ALABAMA

WISCONSIN

WASHINGTON

SOUTH DAKOTA

ARKANSAS

MAINE NORTH DAKOTA

NEW YORK

VIRGINIA

MISSISSIPPI

LOUISIANA

INDIANA

MICHIGAN

TENNESSEE

KENTUCKY

PENNSYLVANIA

NORTH CAROLINA

SOUTH CAROLINA

WEST VIRGINIA

VERMONT

MASSACHUSETTS

MARYLAND

NEW JERSEY

NEW

HAMPSHIRE

CONNECTICUT

PUERTO RICO

DELAWARE

RHODE ISLAND

U.S. VIRGIN

ISLANDS

130° 125° 120° 115° 110° 105° 100° 95° 90° 85° 80° 75° 70°

50°

45°

40°

35°

30°

25°

20°

15°

10°

45°

40°

35°

30°

25°

20°

15°

10°

150° 145° 140° 135° 130° 125° 120° 115° 110° 105° 100° 95° 90° 85° 80° 75° 70° 65° 60° 55° 50°

Frontier-Muddy

Continuous-Gas AU Cody Sandstone

Continuous-Gas AU

Mesaverde-Meeteetse

Sandstone Gas AU

Lance-Fort Union

Sandstone Gas AU

Wind River Basin Province

Digital Data Series 69–HH

Plate 1

Southern Alaska Province

0.64 TCFG

ALASKA

155°

155° 140° 135°

145°

145°

150°

150°

160°

160°

165°

180° 175° 170° 165°

70°

70°

65°

65°

60°

60°

55° 0 50 100 MILES 55°

0 50 100 KILOMETERS

Alaska Albers Equal Area Conic Projection

Central Meridian: -154.0

Standard Parallel 1: 55.0

Standard Parallel 2: 65.0

Latitude of origin: 50.0

Datum: North American Datum 1983

Catskill Sandstones and Siltstone AU

Berea Sandstone AU

Greater Big Sandy AU

Clinton-Medina

Transitional Northeast AU

Clinton-Medina Transitional AU

Clinton-Medina Basin-Center AU

Tuscarora Basin-Center AU

Appalachian Basin Province

51.71 TCFG

Appalachian Basin Province

Shallow Continuous

Biogenic-Gas AU

Bowdoin Dome AU

Judith River Formation AU

Eagle Sandstone and

Claggett Shale West AU

Eagle Sandstone and

Claggett Shale West AU

Eagle Sandstone and

Claggett Shale East AU Niobrara-Carlile AU

Greenhorn–

Upper Belle Fourche AU

Greenhorn–

Lower Belle Fourche AU

Cody Sandstone

Continuous-Gas AU

Mesaverde Sandstone

Continuous-Gas AU

Muddy–Frontier Sandstone and

Mowry Fractured Shale

Continuous-Gas AU

Deep (6,000 feet plus) Coal

and Sandstone Gas AU

(Ferron/Wasatch Plateau TPS)

Uinta Basin Transitional-Gas AU

(Mesaverde TPS) Uinta Basin Continuous-Gas AU

(Mesaverde TPS)

Piceance Basin

Transitional-Gas AU

(Mesaverde TPS)

Piceance Basin

Continuous-Gas AU

(Mesaverde TPS)

Piceance Basin

Continuous-Gas AU

(Mancos/Mowry TPS)

Uinta Basin Continuous-Gas AU

(Mancos/Mowry TPS)

Uinta-Piceance Transitional and Migrated Gas AU

(Mancos/Mowry TPS)

Arkoma-Ouachita Foredeep Continuous AU 0 30 60 MILES

0 30 60 KILOMETERS

Taylorsville Basin

Continuous-Gas AU

Richmond Basin

Continuous-Gas AU

South Newark Basin

Continuous-Gas AU

Deep River Basin

Continuous-Gas AU

Dan River-Danville Basin

Continuous-Gas AU

Dakota Group

Basin-Center Gas AU

Tuxedni-Naknek

Continuous-Gas AU

Dakota-Greenhorn

Continuous-Gas AU Mancos Sandstones

Continuous-Gas AU

Mesaverde

Central-Basin

Continuous-Gas AU

Lewis Continuous-Gas AU

Pictured Cliffs

Continuous-Gas AU

Columbia Basin

Continuous-Gas AU

Mowry Continuous-Gas AU

Hilliard-Baxter-Mancos

Continuous Gas AU

Mesaverde-Lance-Fort Union

Continuous-Gas Au

Almond

Continuous-Gas AU

Lewis

Continuous-Gas AU

Lance-Fort Union

Continuous-Gas AU

Lance-Fort Union

Continuous-Gas AU

Rock Springs-Ericson

Continuous-Gas AU

Southwestern Wyoming Province

North-Central Montana Province

6.19 TCFG

Powder River Basin Province

0.79 TCFG

Uinta-Piceance Basin Province

18.83 TCFG

Arkoma Basin Province

6.79 TCFG

Eastern Oregon and

Washington Province

2.12 TCFG

Southwestern Wyoming

Province—80.58 TCFG

San Juan Basin Province

26.18 TCFG

Wind River Basin Province

1.69 TCFG

Denver Basin Province

1.09 TCFG

East Coast Mesozoic Basins

3.86 TCFG

Bighorn Basin Province

0.42 TCFG

0 10 20 MILES

0 10 20 KILOMETERS

Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply 

endorsement by the U.S. Government.

Although this information product, for the most part, is in the public domain, it also contains 

copyrighted materials as noted in the text. Permission to reproduce copyrighted items must 

be secured from the copyright owner.

This database, identified as DDS 69–HH, has been approved for release and publication by 

the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Although this database has been subjected to rigorous 

review and is substantially complete, the USGS reserves the right to revise the data 

pursuant to further analysis and review. Furthermore, it is released on condition that neither 

the USGS nor the U.S. Government may be held liable for any damages resulting from its 

authorized or unauthorized use.

For more information concerning this publication, contact:

Center Director, USGS Central Energy Resources Science Center

Box 25046, Mail Stop 939

(303) 236-1647

Or visit the Central Energy Resources Science Center Web site at:

http://energy.usgs.gov/

Publishing support provided by: 

Denver Publishing Service Center

Edit and digital layout by L.J. Binder

Manuscript approved for publication July 17, 2014

To learn about the USGS and its information products visit

http://www.usgs.gov/ 

1-888-ASK-USGS

This report is available at:

http://pubs.usgs.gov/dds/dds-069/dds-069-hh/ and on 

CD-ROM by contacting eteamdisks@usgs.gov

Suggested citation: U.S. Geological Survey National Assessment of Oil and 

Gas Resources Team, and Biewick, L.R.H., compiler, 2014, Map of assessed 

tight-gas resources in the United States, 2014: U.S. Geological Survey Digital 

Data Series 69–HH, XX p., 1 pl., GIS data package,

http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/dds69hh. 

ISSN 2327-638X (online)

http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/dds69hh

0 10 20 MILES

0 10 20 KILOMETERS

Eastern Oregon and

Washington Province

0 30 60 MILES

0 30 60 KILOMETERS

San Juan Basin Province

0 15 30 MILES

0 15 30 KILOMETERS

Southern Alaska Province

Denver Basin Province

0 15 30 MILES

0 15 30 KILOMETERS

East Coast Mesozoic Basins

0 30 60 MILES

0 30 60 KILOMETERS

Arkoma Basin Province

Uinta-Piceance Basin Province

100 0 100 200 300 400 500 MILES

100 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 KILOMETERS

0 15 30 MILES

0 15 30 KILOMETERS

Bighorn Basin Province

0 15 30 MILES

0 15 30 KILOMETERS

North-Central Montana Province

0 30 60 MILES

0 30 60 KILOMETERS

Powder River Basin Province

0 30 60 MILES

0 30 60 KILOMETERS

0 30 60 MILES

0 30 60 KILOMETERS

Shaded relief from U.S. Geological Survey, The National Map, accessed 2007 at http://nationalmap.gov/

Bathymetry from ETOPO1, NOAA Technical Memorandum

NESDIS NGDC–24 (Amante and Eakins, 2009)

Map of Assessed Tight-Gas Resources in the United States, 2014

By

U.S. Geological Survey National Assessment of Oil and Gas Resources Team, 

and Laura R.H. Biewick, compiler

2014

Albers Equal Area Conic Projection, Central Meridian: -96.0

Standard Parallel 1: 29.5, Standard Parallel 2: 45.5

Latitude of origin: 23.0

Datum: North American Datum 1983

0 15 30 MILES

0 15 30 KILOMETERS

Explanation

Tight-Gas Assessment Units—Merged

on conterminous U.S. map. On inset

maps, outlined and labeled with red

text in a light red background.

Mean tight-gas resource estimates (TCFG)—Undiscovered,

technically recoverable. TCFG, trillions of cubic feet of gas.

100

75

50

25

10

5

1

PACIFIC OCEAN

ATLANTIC OCEAN

Gulf of Mexico MEXICO

CANADA

UNITED STATES

CUBA

JAMAICA

HAITI

DOMINICAN

REPUBLIC

Abstract

This report presents a digital map of tight-gas resource 

assessments in the United States as part of the U.S. 

Geological Survey’s (USGS) National Assessment of Oil and 

Gas Project. Using a geology-based assessment 

methodology, the USGS quantitatively estimated potential 

volumes of undiscovered, technically recoverable natural 

gas resources within tight-gas assessment units (AUs). This 

is the second digital map product in a series of USGS 

unconventional oil and gas resource maps. The map can be 

printed in hardcopy form or downloaded in a Geographic 

Information System (GIS) data package, including an ArcGIS 

ArcMap document (.mxd), geodatabase (.gdb), and published 

map file (.pmf). In addition, the publication access table 

contains hyperlinks to current USGS tight-gas assessment 

publications and web pages.

Access to Report

This entire publication is available online at the USGS web site:

http:/pubs.usgs.gov/dds/dds-069/dds-069-hh/ and on CD-ROM by contacting:

eteamdisks@usgs.gov.

Access to Assessment Results

Comprehensive geologic studies, supporting data, and reports on the 

methodology used in assessing undiscovered oil and gas resources in the United 

States are available at the USGS Central EnergyResources Science Center website: 

http://energy.usgs.gov/OilGas/AssessmentsData/NationalOilGasAssessment.aspx

Project Chief: Christopher J. Schenk

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Digital Data Series DDS–69–HH

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

U.S. Geological Survey National Assessment of Oil and Gas Resources Project

Map of Assessed Tight-Gas Resources in the 

United States, 2014

300 ft

100 ft
COVER. Cross section shows lenticular fluvial sandstone reservoirs within the continuous gassaturated interval in the Williams Fork Formation of the Mesaverde Group, Piceance Basin, Colorado. 

Graphic by Steve Cumella, consulting geologist. Map from figure 1, this publication.
Map of Assessed Tight-Gas Resources in 

the United States, 2014

By U.S. Geological Survey National Assessment of Oil and Gas Resources Team, 

and Laura R.H. Biewick, compiler

U.S. Geological Survey National Assessment of Oil and Gas Resources Project

Digital Data Series DDS–69–HH

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey
U.S. Department of the Interior

SALLY JEWELL, Secretary

U.S. Geological Survey

Suzette M. Kimball, Acting Director

U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia: 2014

For more information on the USGS—the Federal source for science about the Earth, its natural and living 

resources, natural hazards, and the environment, visit http://www.usgs.gov or call 1–888–ASK–USGS.

For an overview of USGS information products, including maps, imagery, and publications, 

visit http://www.usgs.gov/pubprod

To order this and other USGS information products, visit http://store.usgs.gov

Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the 

U.S. Government.

Although this report is in the public domain, permission must be secured from the individual copyright owners to 

reproduce any copyrighted materials contained within this report.

Suggested citation:

U.S. Geological Survey National Assessment of Oil and Gas Resources Team, and Biewick, L.R.H., compiler, 2014, 

Map of assessed tight-gas resources in the United States, 2014: U.S. Geological Survey Digital Data Series 69–HH, 

6 p., 1 pl., GIS data package, http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/ds69HH.

ISSN 2327-132X (online)
iii

Contents

Abstract...........................................................................................................................................................1

Introduction.....................................................................................................................................................1

Print Map.........................................................................................................................................................1

Web Services .................................................................................................................................................3

Download Maps and Data............................................................................................................................3

Summary..........................................................................................................................................................3

Acknowledgments.........................................................................................................................................4

References Cited............................................................................................................................................4

Figure

1. Map graphic links to the tight-gas resources hardcopy map...............................................2

Table

1. Publication access table—Hyperlinks to USGS tight-gas assessment 

publications and web pages.................................................................................................. link

Plate

1. Map of assessed tight-gas resources in the United States, 2014................................... link
iv

Conversion Factors

Inch/Pound to SI

 Multiply By To obtain

 Length

inch (in.) 25.4 millimeter (mm)

 Volume

cubic foot (ft3

) 0.02832 cubic meter (m3)

SI to Inch/Pound

 Multiply By To obtain

 Length

millimeter (mm) 0.03937 inch (in.)

 Volume

cubic meter (m3

) 35.31 cubic foot (ft3)

Temperature in degrees Celsius (°C) may be converted to degrees Fahrenheit (°F) as follows:

°F=(1.8×°C)+32

Temperature in degrees Fahrenheit (°F) may be converted to degrees Celsius (°C) as follows:

°C=(°F-32)/1.8

Permeability in millidarcies (mD)
Map of Assessed Tight-Gas Resources in the 

United States, 2014

By U.S. Geological Survey National Assessment of Oil and Gas Resources Team, 

and Laura R.H. Biewick, compiler

Abstract

This report presents a digital map of tight-gas resource 

assessments in the United States as part of the U.S. Geological 

Survey’s (USGS) National Assessment of Oil and Gas Project. 

Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the USGS 

quantitatively estimated potential volumes of undiscovered, 

technically recoverable natural gas resources within tight-gas 

assessment units (AUs). This is the second digital map product 

in a series of USGS unconventional oil and gas resource maps. 

The map plate included in this report can be printed in hardcopy form or downloaded in a Geographic Information 

System (GIS) data package, including an ArcGIS ArcMap 

document (.mxd), geodatabase (.gdb), and published map 

file (.pmf). In addition, the publication access table contains 

hyperlinks to current USGS tight-gas assessment publications 

and web pages.

Introduction

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) carries out scientific 

investigations and conducts assessments of geologically based 

energy resources, including unconventional resources (for 

example, shale gas, tight gas, unconventional oil, and coalbed 

methane). These scientific studies are used to evaluate and 

assess the quality and distribution of energy resource accumulations and the undiscovered, technically recoverable energy 

resource potential of the United States (U.S.). This publication 

summarizes the results of the U.S. tight-gas assessment in a 

geospatial map and data package. 

The total petroleum system (TPS) is the basic geologic

unit of the oil and gas assessment; it includes all of the 

essential elements and processes needed for oil and gas accumulations to exist, including the presence of source and reservoir rocks, hydrocarbon generation and migration, traps and 

seals, and undiscovered accumulations. An assessment unit is 

a mappable volume of rock within a total petroleum system 

in which discovered and undiscovered resource accumulations are relatively similar with respect to geology, exploration 

strategy, and risk characteristics (Ahlbrandt, 2000, no page 

numbers). Tight gas is natural gas trapped in formations with 

very low permeability to gas (0. 1 mD or less) due to fine grain 

size and poorly connected pores.

Comprehensive geologic studies, supporting data, and 

reports on the methodology used in assessing undiscovered 

oil and gas resources in the United States are available at the 

USGS Central Energy Resources Science Center website at: 

http://energy.usgs.gov/OilGas/AssessmentsData/NationalOilGasAssessment.aspx

Print Map

The map of tight-gas resources is available as a static 

Portable Document Format (.pdf) file and as an interactive 

map contained on a CD-ROM. These products are also available at http://pubs.usgs.gov/dds/dds-069/dds-069-hh/ or 

http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/ds69HH. The software used to 

create this digital map product includes Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. (Esri) ArcGIS 10, Python, Adobe 

Photoshop CS5.1, Illustrator CS5.1, and Acrobat 7.0. 

To access the hardcopy .pdf map, click on the map 

graphic shown in figure 1. Adobe Acrobat Reader software is 

recommended to view the .pdf map and is available for download free at http://get.adobe.com/reader/.
Detroit Los Angeles Chicago Atlanta Dallas New York City Boston

Houston

Washington

Miami

Philadelphia

Denver

San Jose

Seattle

Cleveland

Baltimore

Saint Louis

Tulsa

Phoenix San Diego

Pittsburgh

Kansas City

Portland

Indianapolis

Buffalo

Akron

Milwaukee

Camden Sacramento

Flint

Richmond

Memphis

Omaha

Oakland

Dayton

Nashville

MinneapolisSaint Paul

Cincinnati

San Antonio

Tampa

Rochester

Columbus

Wichita

Birmingham

Toledo

Fort

Worth

Tucson

Concord

Louisville

Norfolk

Hartford

Orlando

Spokane

Charlotte

Tacoma

Oklahoma

City

Eugene

Knoxville

Sarasota

Lansing

Jackson

Jacksonville

Marietta

Austin

Salt Lake City

Springfield

Providence

Clearwater

New Orleans

Las Vegas

Trenton

Pensacola

Albuquerque

Augusta

Winston-Salem

Roanoke

Baton Rouge

Mobile

Syracuse

Youngstown

Huntsville

Chattanooga

El Paso

Greenville

Fort Wayne

Fort LauderdaleWest Palm Beach

Grand

Rapids

Duluth

Vancouver

Covington

Little Rock

Newport NewsHampton

Cocoa

Beach

TEXAS

UTAH

MONTANA

NEVADA

CALIFORNIA

IDAHO

ARIZONA

OREGON

IOWA

KANSAS

WYOMING

NEW MEXICO

COLORADO

OHIO

MISSOURI

NEBRASKA

MINNESOTA

ILLINOIS

GEORGIA

FLORIDA

OKLAHOMA

ALABAMA

WISCONSIN

WASHINGTON

SOUTH DAKOTA

ARKANSAS

MAINE

NORTH DAKOTA

NEW YORK

VIRGINIA

MISSISSIPPI

LOUISIANA

INDIANA

MICHIGAN

TENNESSEE

KENTUCKY

PENNSYLVANIA

NORTH CAROLINA

SOUTH CAROLINA

WEST VIRGINIA

VERMONT

MASSACHUSETTS

MARYLAND

NEW JERSEY

NEW

HAMPSHIRE

CONNECTICUT

DELAWARE

RHODE ISLAND

130° 125° 120° 115° 110° 105° 100° 95° 90° 85° 80° 75° 

45°40°35°30°25°20°15°10°

150° 145° 140° 135° 130° 125° 120° 115° 110° 105° 100° 95° 90° 85° 80° 75° 70° 65° 60° 5

Frontier-Muddy

Continuous-Gas AU Cody Sandstone Continuous-Gas AU

Mesaverde-Meeteetse

Sandstone Gas AU

Lance-Fort Union

Sandstone Gas AU

Wind River Basin Province

Southern Alaska Province

0.64 TCFG

ALASKA

155°

155° 140° 135°

145°

145°

150°

150°

160°

160°

165°

180° 175° 170° 165°

70°

70°

65°

65°

60°

60°

55°

0 50 100 MILES 55°

0 50 100 KILOMETERS

Alaska Albers Equal Area Conic ProjectionCentral Meridian: -154.0Standard Parallel 1: 55.0Standard Parallel 2: 65.0Latitude of origin: 50.0Datum: North American Datum 1983

Catskill Sandstones and Siltstone AU

Berea Sandstone AU

Greater Big Sandy AU

Clinton-Medina

Transitional Northeast AU

Clinton-Medina Transitional AU

Clinton-Medina Basin-Center AU

Tuscarora Basin-Center AU

Appalachian Basin Province

51.71 TCFG

Appalachian Basin Province

Shallow Continuous

Biogenic-Gas AU

Bowdoin Dome AU

Judith River Formation AU

Eagle Sandstone and

Claggett Shale West AU

Eagle Sandstone and

Claggett Shale West AU

Eagle Sandstone and

Claggett Shale East AU Niobrara-Carlile AU

Greenhorn–

Upper Belle Fourche AU

Greenhorn–

Lower Belle Fourche AU

Cody Sandstone

Continuous-Gas AU

Mesaverde Sandstone

Continuous-Gas AU

Muddy–Frontier Sandstone and

Mowry Fractured Shale

Continuous-Gas AU

Deep (6,000 feet plus) Coal

and Sandstone Gas AU

(Ferron/Wasatch Plateau TPS)

Uinta Basin Transitional-Gas AU

(Mesaverde TPS) Uinta Basin Continuous-Gas AU

(Mesaverde TPS)

Piceance Basin

Transitional-Gas AU

(Mesaverde TPS)

Piceance Basin

Continuous-Gas AU

(Mesaverde TPS)

Piceance Basin

Continuous-Gas AU

(Mancos/Mowry TPS)

Uinta Basin Continuous-Gas AU

(Mancos/Mowry TPS)

Uinta-Piceance Transitional and Migrated Gas AU

(Mancos/Mowry TPS)

Arkoma-Ouachita Foredeep Continuous AU

0 30 60 MILES

0 30 60 KILOMETERS

Ric

Cont

Dakota Group

Basin-Center Gas AU

Tuxedni-Naknek

Continuous-Gas AU

Dakota-Greenhorn

Continuous-Gas AU Mancos Sandstones Continuous-Gas AU

Mesaverde

Central-Basin

Continuous-Gas AU

Lewis Continuous-Gas AU

Pictured Cliffs

Continuous-Gas AU

Columbia Basin

Continuous-Gas AU

Mowry Continuous-Gas AU

Hilliard-Baxter-Mancos

Continuous Gas AU

Mesaverde-Lance-Fort Union

Continuous-Gas Au

Almond

Continuous-Gas AU

Lewis

Continuous-Gas AU

Lance-Fort Union

Continuous-Gas AU

Lance-Fort Union

Continuous-Gas AU

Rock Springs-Ericson

Continuous-Gas AU

Southwestern Wyoming Province

North-Central Montana Province6.19 TCFG

Powder River Basin Province0.79 TCFG

Uinta-Piceance Basin Province

18.83 TCFG

Arkoma Basin Province6.79 TCFG

Eastern Oregon and

Washington Province

2.12 TCFG

Southwestern Wyoming

Province—80.58 TCFG

San Juan Basin Province26.18 TCFG

Wind River Basin Province

1.69 TCFG

Denver Basin Province1.09 TCFG

East Coast Mesozoic Basins3.86 TCFG

Bighorn Basin Province

0.42 TCFG

0 10 20 MILES

0 10 20 KILOMETERS

Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply 

endorsement by the U.S. Government.Although this information product, for the most part, is in the public domain, it also contains 

copyrighted materials as noted in the text. Permission to reproduce copyrighted items must be secured from the copyright owner.This database, identified as DDS 69–HH, has been approved for release and publication by 

the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Although this database has been subjected to rigorous 

review and is substantially complete, the USGS reserves the right to revise the data 

pursuant to further analysis and review. Furthermore, it is released on condition that neither 

the USGS nor the U.S. Government may be held liable for any damages resulting from its authorized or unauthorized use.

0 10 20 MILES

0 10 20 KILOMETERS

Eastern Oregon and

Washington Province

0 30 60 MILES

0 30 60 KILOMETERS

San Juan Basin Province

0 15 30 MILES

0 15 30 KILOMETERS

Southern Alaska Province

Denver Basin Province

0 15 30 MILES

0 15 30 KILOMETERS

Arkoma Basin Province

Uinta-Piceance Basin Province

100 0 100 200 300 400 500 MILES

100 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 KILOMETERS

0 15 30 MILES

0 15 30 KILOMETERS

Bighorn Basin Province

0 15 30 MILES

0 15 30 KILOMETERS

North-Central Montana Province

0 30 60 MILES

0 30 60 KILOMETERS

Powder River Basin Province

0 30 60 MILES

0 30 60 KILOMETERS

0 30 60 MILES

0 30 60 KILOMETERS

Shaded relief from U.S. Geological Survey, The National Map, accessed 2007 at http://nationalmap.gov/Bathymetry from ETOPO1, NOAA Technical Memorandum

NESDIS NGDC–24 (Amante and Eakins, 2009)

Map of Assessed Tight-Gas Resources in the United States, 2014ByU.S. Geological Survey National Assessment of Oil and Gas Resources Team, and Laura R.H. Biewick, compiler2014

Albers Equal Area Conic Projection, Central Meridian: -96.0

Standard Parallel 1: 29.5, Standard Parallel 2: 45.5

Latitude of origin: 23.0Datum: North American Datum 1983

0 15 30 MILES

0 15 30 KILOMETERS

PACIFIC OCEAN

ATLANTIC OCEAN

Gulf of Mexico MEXICO

CANADA

UNITED STATES

CUBA

JAMAICA

HAITI

Abstract

This repor

assessments Geological SGas Project. methodologyvolumes of ugas resourceis the second unconventioprinted in haInformation SArcMap doc

map file (.pmcontains hyppublications Access to Re

This entire publichttp:/pubs.usgs.geteamdisks@usg

Access to A

Comprehensive g

methodology use

States are availa

http://energy.usg

Project Chief: Ch

U.S. Department of the InteriorU.S. Geological Survey

Figure 1. The hardcopy .pdf map is designed to be printed on a 45 × 32 inch map sheet. The map graphic links to the tight-gas resources hardcopy m
Summary 3

Web Services

This report also includes a web map service. To access 

the tight-gas web service, visit the USGS National Assessment 

of Oil and Gas Resources website at http://energy.usgs.gov/

OilGas/AssessmentsData/NationalOilGasAssessment.aspx.

Download Maps and Data

The map of assessed tight-gas resources is available as 

a GIS map and data package that is contained on CD-ROM 

or can be downloaded from the USGS website at http://

pubs.usgs.gov/dds/dds-069/dds-069-hh/ or http://dx.doi.

org/10.3133/ds69HH. The ArcMap document, whose filename 

contains an .mxd extension, is the main component of the GIS 

data package and is used to analyze geospatial data, symbolize features, and create maps. Access to the .mxd file requires 

Esri’s ArcGIS 10 or newer versions of the desktop software 

(Esri, 2000). Using the published .mxd and the ArcGIS Publisher extension (ESRI, 2008a) in ArcMap, a special file called 

a published map file was created. Published map files contain 

a .pmf extension, and can be accessed using any ArcGIS (Esri, 

2000) desktop product, including the free ArcReader (Esri, 

2008b) application. ArcMap and ArcReader offer different 

ways to view a map, in which one can perform map-based 

tasks. ArcReader provides basic tools for map viewing, printing and querying of geospatial data. More advanced geospatial 

processing requires the ArcGIS suite of geospatial processing 

programs, including ArcMap.

There are two ArcMap documents contained in this 

report: (1) TightGasMap2014.mxd, and (2) TightGasMap2014simplified.mxd. TightGasMap2014.mxd is a complex 

ArcGIS project used to build, design, and export the .pdf map. 

Multiple data frames enable the advanced user to navigate 

each province area; upon initial launch, this file tends to be 

much slower than subsequent map starts. TightGasMap2014simplified.mxd is designed for a novice GIS user to easily 

navigate and utilize these data.

The digital map layout of both the .mxd and the .pmf 

contains a map window with a series of layers in the table of 

contents frame on the left side of the navigation screen. Within 

the table of contents, select the box to the left of each layer 

or group of layers to display the features in map view. Click 

the “+” sign to the left of each layer, group, or data frame to 

display the symbology or the list of layers within that group or 

data frame. To deselect the entire group, ctrl-click the check 

box to the left of any one of the AU names. Ctrl-click again to 

toggle the check boxes on for the entire group.

By default, the map is in Layout View, and Contiguous

U.S. (lower 48) is the active data frame. Layout View is 

designed to work with the map layout and graphic elements, 

such as titles, north arrows, and scale bars, along with the 

data frame, all of which are arranged on a page. Data View is 

designed for exploring, displaying, and querying the data sets 

presented on the map, which is displayed in real-world coordinates (Esri, 2011). Navigation between Layout View and Data 

View is available from the View drop-down menu.

Labels and annotation for the AUs are included as separate layers that can be toggled on and off, as deemed appropriate for a particular map display. In the simplified .mxd, 

the ‘Tight-Gas AU Annotation’ layer, when visible, shows all 

tight-gas AU names. Users may wish to zoom into a particular area of interest, in which case, individual province labels 

available within each province group can be toggled on and 

the AU annotation layer can be toggled off (made invisible).

ArcMap documents (.mxd) and published map files 

(.pmf) can be enhanced by including auxiliary base map 

layers, many of which are available as ArcGIS services (for 

example, shaded relief, world imagery; Esri, 2010). Several 

base layers are visible upon opening the map document, and 

setup as the default view. An important base layer, geologic 

units from the Geologic Map of North America (Reed and 

others, 2005; Garrity and Soller, 2009), is included for additional geologic context. Because many of these base layers 

are very large files, toggling these layers off can hasten map 

display while navigating the interactive map. Once an appropriate map graphic has been created or area of interest has 

been isolated the addition of one or more of the base layers 

can enhance the final map product or view.

All geospatial data are stored in file geodatabase (Esri, 

2012; TightGas2014.gdb and BaseLayers.gdb) and shapefile 

format in a World Geodetic System (WGS) 1984 projection, 

which is a standard projection for distributing geospatial data. 

The polygons in TightGas2014.gdb represent the tight-gas 

AUs that have been defined and assessed by the USGS. An 

important aspect of this map product is that it does not require 

extensive GIS expertise or highly specialized equipment 

to use. 

The Metadata folder contains tight-gas data documentation in XML, html, and text format. The base map layers have 

metadata incorporated from the published sources. Reference 

or base layers from “The National Atlas of the United States of 

America” (U.S. Department of the Interior, 2008) include state 

and county boundaries, streams, water bodies, and urban areas 

in the United States. For the ArcGIS.com web services (formerly ArcGIS Online; Esri, 2010), data descriptions, sources, 

and credits are stored as layer properties. 

Summary

The USGS map of the principal tight-gas resources in 

the United States portrays the occurrence of this important 

resource. Estimates of the tight-gas resource, especially the 

portion that is technically recoverable, are likely to change 

over time as our geologic understanding of the resource characteristics increases, and with further advances in recovery 

methods. New information can be readily added to this digital 

baseline developed for the USGS National Assessment of Oil 
4 Map of Assessed Tight-Gas Resources in the United States, 2014

and Gas project. The ability to view, edit, create, and analyze 

geospatial data can enhance/increase our understanding of 

tight-gas resources and assessments. 

Acknowledgments

This report is a compilation of work by many USGS 

Energy Resources Program geologists who presented the 

geologic evidence critical to defining and assessing tight-gas 

resource volumes across the United States. The manuscript 

was improved by reviews from Christopher J. Schenk, Jon 

Haacke, and Dave Ferderer, and thanks are extended to them 

for their thoughtful evaluations and suggested revisions. 

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Publishing support provided by: 

Denver Publishing Service Center

For more information concerning this publication, contact: 

Center Director, USGS Central Energy Resources Science Center 

Box 25046, Mail Stop 939 

Denver, CO 80225 

(303) 236-1647 

Or visit the Central Energy Resources Science Center Web site at: 

http://energy.usgs.gov/

This report is available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/dds69HH
ISSN 2327-132X (online) 

http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/dds69HH

USGS National Assessment of Oil and Gas Resources Team and Biewick—Map of Assessed Tight-Gas Resources in the U.S., 2014

—Digital Data Series DDS–69–HH