Chapter 8

The GIS Project for the Geologic 

Assessment of Undiscovered Oil and Gas 

Resources of the Bighorn Basin Province, 

Wyoming and Montana

By GIS Spatial Data Team

Chapter 8 of 

Petroleum Systems and Geologic Assessment of Oil and Gas in the 

Bighorn Basin Province, Wyoming and Montana

By U.S. Geological Survey Bighorn Basin Province Assessment Team

U.S. Geological Survey Digital Data Series DDS–69–V

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

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U.S. Department of the Interior

KEN SALAZAR, Secretary

U.S. Geological Survey

Marcia K. McNutt, Director

U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia: 2010

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Suggested citation:

GIS Spatial Data Team, 2010, The GIS project for the geologic assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources of 

the Bighorn Basin Province, Wyoming and Montana: U.S. Geological Survey Digital Data Series DDS–69–V, 1 p.

ISBN: 1–4113–2667–5
A geographic information system (GIS) focusing on the 

Bighorn Basin was developed as a visual-analysis tool for the 

U.S. Geological Survey’s 2008 assessment of undiscovered, 

technically recoverable oil and natural gas resources in the 

Bighorn Basin Province. The Central Energy Resources Team 

of the U.S. Geological Survey has also developed an Internet 

Map Service to deliver the GIS data to the public. This mapping tool utilizes information from a database about the oil and 

natural gas endowment of the United States—including physical locations of geologic and geographic data—and converts 

the data into visual layers. Portrayal and analysis of geologic 

features on an interactive map provide an excellent tool for 

understanding domestic oil and gas resources for strategic 

planning, formulating economic and energy policies, evaluating lands under the purview of the Federal Government, and 

developing sound environmental policies. Assessment results 

can be viewed and analyzed or downloaded from the Internet 

Web site. 

Hydrocarbon assessment-unit boundaries include the 

assessment results as attributes. Specialized maps, which we 

in the Central Energy Resources Team refer to as “cell maps,” 

illustrate the degree of exploration and the type and distribution of production for each assessment unit. Other data that are 

also available in the interactive map include the following:

•	 Cities

•	 Roads

•	 Geologic provinces

•	 Total petroleum system

•	 States

•	 Counties

•	 Streams and water bodies

•	 Federal surface ownership

Click on the map below to access the Bighorn Basin Province 

Internet Map Service.

The GIS Project for the Geologic Assessment of 

Undiscovered Oil and Gas Resources of the Bighorn Basin 

Province, Wyoming and Montana

By GIS Spatial Data Team

The spatial data that formed the basis of the GIS for the 

Bighorn Basin are provided online at the USGS National Oil 

and Gas Assessment Web site (NOGA Online: http://energy.

cr.usgs.gov/oilgas/noga/) and are also contained on this CD–

ROM in the Spatial folder. The Doc folder contains metadata 

documentation in HTML format that is also incorporated in 

each shapefile in XML format. Most of the base cartographic

data layers used in the GIS project were obtained from the 

U.S. Department of the Interior National Atlas Web site, 

www.nationalatlas.gov.
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For more information concerning this publication, contact:

Team Chief Scientist, USGS Central Energy Resources

Box 25046, Mail Stop 939

Denver, CO 80225

(303) 236-1647

Or visit the Central Energy Resources Team site at:

http://energy.cr.usgs.gov/