According to the survey, the undiscovered technically recoverable resources in the Mancos deposit include an estimated 66 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
It also has an estimated 74 million barrels of shale oil and 45 million barrels of natural gas liquids, according to an updated assessment.
USGS completed the previous Mancos Shale assessment in the Piceance Basin in 2003 and estimated potential 1.6 trillion cubic feet of shale natural gas reserves. It was undertaken as part of a comprehensive assessment of the greater Uinta-Piceance Province.
US representative for the 3rd district of Colorado said: "Utilizing this resource can become a reality by getting commonsense projects like the Jordan Cove pipeline off the ground, increasing U.S. natural gas exports, and establishing a true all-of-the-above domestic energy policy through responsible production.
"This is an incredible opportunity to create jobs and economic growth in one of the regions hit hardest by the economic downturn."
The Mancos Shale, however, has been reassessed in order to reconsider priority onshore continuous oil and gas accumulations.
USGS scientist Sarah Hawkins said: "In the last decade, new drilling in the Mancos Shale provided additional geologic data and required a revision of our previous assessment of technically recoverable, undiscovered oil and gas."
According to the new estimate, the Piceance Basin could be the country’s second-largest natural gas reserves after the Marcellus Shale formation in Pennsylvania, reported The Wall Street Journal.
Image: Scientists from USGS drill a test core into the Mancos Shale. Photo: courtesy of Joshua Hicks, USGS.
