U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Fact Sheet 2011–3113

October 2011

Oil Shale Assessment Project

In-Place Oil Shale Resources Underlying Federal Lands in the 

Green River and Washakie Basins, Southwestern Wyoming

Printed on recycled paper

Introduction

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) recently (2011) estimated the in-place oil shale resources, regardless of grade, in the 

Eocene Green River Formation of the Green River and Washakie 

Basins, southwestern Wyoming (fig. 1) at about 1.45 trillion barrels 

of oil (Johnson and others, 2011). The oil shale interval within the 

formation was subdivided into three zones, in ascending order: (1) 

Tipton Shale Member, (2) Wilkins Peak Member, and (3) LaClede 

Bed of Laney Member (fig. 2); each zone was assessed separately 

(table 1). Using geographic information systems (GIS) technology, several subsets of the total volume of 1.45 trillion barrels were 

calculated by merging the oil shale resource data with Bureau of 

Land Management (BLM) surface and subsurface ownership files 

(Bureau of Land Management, 2011). Because of the complex 

nature of mineral estate ownership, only those areas where the 

Federal Government retains rights to all minerals as defined by the 

Using a geologic-based assessment methodology, the U.S. 

Geological Survey estimated an in-place oil shale resource 

of 906 billion barrels under Federal mineral rights, or 62 

percent of the total oil shale in place, in the Green River 

and Washakie Basins, Wyoming. More than 67 percent of 

the total oil shale in-place resource, or 969 billion barrels, 

is under Federal surface management.

R. 117 W. R. 116 W. R. 115 W. R. 114 W. R. 113 W. R. 112 W. R. 111 W. R. 110 W. R. 109 W. R. 108 W. R. 107 W. R. 106 W. R. 105 W. R. 104 W. R. 103 W.R. 102 W. R. 101 W. R. 100 W. R. 99 W. R. 98 W. R. 97 W. R. 96 W. R. 95 W. R. 94 W. R. 93 W. R. 92 W.

R. 115 W.

T.

30

N.

T.

29

N.

T.

28

N. T.

27

N.

T.

26

N.

T.

25

N.

T.

24

N.

T.

23

N.

T.

22

N.

T.

21

N.

T.

20

N.

T.

19

N.

T.

18

N.

T.

17

N.

T.

16

N.

T.

15

N.

T.

14

N.

R. 118 W.

T.

13

N.

R. 91 W.

R. 100 W. R. 95 W.

R. 105 W.

R. 110 W.

110°30' 110°00' 109°30' 109°00' 108°30' 108°00' 107°30'

42°30'

42°00'

41°30'

41°00'

0 5 10 MILES

WYOMING

0 5 10 KILOMETERS

COLORADO

WYOMING

UTAH

Study area

Federal mineral rights

Bureau of Land Management

Bureau of Reclamation

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

U.S. Forest Service

Private

State

Water

EXPLANATION

LaClede and Wilkins Peak

 Resource Boundary

Tipton Resource Boundary

BLM were assessed as federally owned. This resulted in a minimum estimate of Federal oil shale resources.

Resources Underlying Federal Lands

Table 1 lists several subtotals of the total estimated 1.45 trillion 

barrels of oil in the Green River Formation:

1. About 906 billion barrels (62 percent) are federally 

owned.

2. About 969 billion barrels (67 percent) are located under 

Federal surface administered lands.

3. About 133 billion barrels (9 percent) are in strata that 

contain more than 15 gallons per ton (GPT) of rock, of 

which about 72 billion barrels are under Federal mineral 

(subsurface) ownership. 

The 15 GPT estimates include only those areas where the 

weighted average of an entire assessed zone exceeds that minimum 

cutoff. In areas where the entire zone does not meet the minimum 

criteria, some oil shale intervals of significant thickness could exist 

within zones that exceed these minimum cutoffs. For example, a 

30-foot interval within an oil shale zone might exceed 15 GPT, but 

if the entire zone averages less than 15 GPT, these resources are not 

included in the 15 GPT subtotals, although they might be exploited 

in the future.

References Cited

Bureau of Land Management, 2011, 

Wyoming surface and mineral status—

state-owns.zip: Bureau of Land Management database, accessed May 2, 2011, at 

http://www.blm.gov/wy/st/en/resources/

public_room/gis/datagis/state/state-own.

html.

Johnson, R.C., Mercier, T.J., and 

Brownfield, M.E., 2011, Assessment of 

in-place oil shale resources of the Green 

River Formation, Greater Green River Basin 

in Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah: U.S. 

Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2011–3063, 

4 p.

Figure 1. Surface management and 

Federal mineral rights of oil shale resources 

in the Eocene Green River Formation, Green 

River and Washakie Basins, Wyoming.
For Additional Information

Supporting geologic studies of the oil shale-bearing units, 

assessment units, oil shale analysis, and the methodology used in 

assessing the oil shale resources in the Green River and Washakie 

Basins are in progress. Assessment results are available at the 

USGS Central Energy Resources Science Center website at http://

energy.cr.usgs.gov/other/oil_shale/.

Figure 2. East-west 

stratigraphic cross section 

showing stratigraphic 

boundaries of the three oil 

shale units assessed (heavy 

black outlines) and related 

stratigraphic units (modified 

from Johnson and others, 

2011). Outline in red on index 

map shows the Greater 

Green River Basin.

Contact Information

For further information, contact Tracey J. Mercier (tmercier@

usgs.gov), Ronald C. Johnson (rcjohnson@usgs.gov), or Michael E. 

Brownfield (mbrownfield@usgs.gov.

Table 1. Oil shale resources under federally managed lands and under Federal mineral rights in the Green River and Washakie Basins, 

Wyoming.

[Resource figures are in millions of barrels; resources are reported to four significant figures and may not equal the sum of the components, because of 

independent rounding; %, percent; ≥, greater than or equal to; GPT, gallons per ton]

All oil yields Oil yield of 15 gallons per ton or greater

Federal mineral Federal surface Federal mineral

Oil shale zone 

(Green River Formation)

Total oil 

in place 

Oil in 

place 

As % 

of total 

in 

place

Oil in 

place 

As % 

of total 

in 

place

Oil in 

place 

As % 

of total 

in 

place

Oil in 

place 

As % 

of total 

in 

place

"As % 

of 

≥ 15 

GPT"

LaClede Bed of Laney Member 377,200 270,800 72 286,600 76 17,030 5 10,410 3 61

Wilkins Peak Member 711,400 418,100 59 450,200 63 4,371 1 3,953 1 90

Tipton Shale Member 362,800 217,300 60 231,800 64 111,100 31 57,800 16 52

Total 1,451,000 906,100 62 968,500 67 132,500 9 72,170 5 54

1.400

1.600

1.700

1.800

1.900

1,300

1,200

1,100

TIPTON SHALE

MEMBER

0

0

FEET 0

0

0 0 500

500

500 500

500 500

1,000 1,000

1,000 1,000

1,000

1,000

11.5 Miles

5.7 Miles

1.0 Miles

9.5 Miles

50.5 Miles 5.3 Miles

1,500

1,500

1,500 1,500

1,500 1,500

2,000

2,500

2,000

2,000 2,000

2,000

2,000

2,500

3,000

2,500

3,000

3,500

Wilkins

Peak

Member

Cathedral

Bluffs

Tongue

of 

Wasatch

Formation

Cathedral

Bluffs

Tongue

of 

Wasatch

Formation

?

?

?

?

LACLEDE BED

 OF LANEY 

LaClede Bed of Laney Member MEMBER

Hartt Cabin

Bed of

Laney Member

Green

River

Formation

Mixed tan or gray freshwater lacustrine 

and sandstone deposits and gray or 

green flood-plain mudstone and 

sandstone deposits. Some volcanic 

debris in Hartt Cabin Bed.

EXPLANATION

Rock

Springs 

uplift

Washakie

Basin

Green River Basin

A

A′

Red flood-plain deposits Cyclic saltwater lacustrine oil shale,

evaporite, and mudflat deposits

Saltwater lacustrine (rich) oil shale deposits

Freshwater lacustrine (lean) oil shale deposits

Trona bed in Wilkins Peak Member

SCHEGGS BED

RIFE BED

A A'

WYOMING

COLORADO

UTAH