USGS Releases Assessment of Undiscovered Oil & Gas Resources in the Los Angeles Basin

RESTON, Va. (April 9) — The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) released its assessment of potential for undiscovered oil and gas in formations under the Los Angeles Basin, assessing that there are technically recoverable resources of 61 million barrels of oil and 240 billion cubic feet of gas. 

Since exploration began in the area in the 1880s, 9 billion barrels of oil have been produced or discovered in the Los Angeles Basin — as much oil as the U.S. consumes in 14 months at the current rate of consumption. 

“USGS energy assessments typically focus on undiscovered resources — areas where science tells us there may be a resource that industry hasn’t discovered yet. In this case, almost 150 years since exploration began, the Los Angeles Basin has little remaining undiscovered oil,” said Sarah Ryker, acting director of the USGS. The Los Angeles Basin includes the coastal plain and waters of Los Angeles and East L.A. north to the Santa Monica Mountains, east to Angeles National Forest and the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas and east and south into much of Orange County. 

The USGS looked at four assessment units – one for conventional oil, two for shale oil, and one for shale gas. USGS oil and gas assessments began 50 years ago following an oil embargo against the U.S. that signaled a need to understand the occurrence, distribution and potential volumes of undiscovered resources. The embargo led to a mandate for the USGS to use geologic science and data to assess undiscovered oil and gas resources to help meet the nation’s needs. 

The work continues today — identifying new resources for domestic production as well as international resources that affect market conditions — an important part of the USGS mission to provide actionable insight to U.S. leaders, other federal agencies, industry and the public. USGS energy resource assessments provide information to policy makers on resource potential in areas of the U.S. and the world. For land-management agencies such as the Bureau of Land Management, the results of an energy resources assessment feed into land-use and resource management plans. 

Take a look here to see USGS’s recent analysis of gas and oil resources in Wyoming and southern Montana.