Remaining Oil & Gas Potential of the Paradox Basin, Southeast Utah: Cane Creek Shale and Carbonate Algal Mound Reservoirs of the Pennsylvanian Paradox Formation, Salt Tectonics, Natural Fractures, Well Stimulation Methods, and Reserve Estimates

   .

     Unlike most Rocky Mountain sedimentary basins, the Paradox Basin is an evaporite basin that contains thick salt accumulations and features salt tectonics. Salts are ductile at low temperatures and pressures. The basin is located mostly in southeast Utah and southwest Colorado, but extends into northeast Arizona and northwest New Mexico. It is 33,000 square miles in extent with sediments as thick as 15,000 feet. The basin is a major source of potash, copper, and uranium. Most past oil production has been from the southern part of the basin from carbonates, including algal mounds, of Pennsylvanian age. More recent production in the northern part of the basin in Utah, in the Fold and Fault Belt, has been found in the Cane Creek Shale of the lower Pennsylvanian Paradox Formation.

     A 2019 AAPG analysis of newly extracted cores from the Cane Creek section described it as:

“…a heterolithic unit comprised of meter-scale cycles of anhydrite, anhydritic dolomitic mudstone, silty dolomite, very fine-grained sandstone to siltstone, and organic-rich calcareous mudstones. Thick beds of overlying and underlying halite provide regional seals and overpressure to the reservoir, and naturally occurring fractures are important for system permeability. Siliciclastic deposits are predominantly bioturbated and contain climbing current ripples, bidirectional cross-stratification, and mud drapes along ripple foresets, all suggestive of tidal depositional processes.”

“Source rock analyses indicate the northern CC is within the oil window (VRo ~0.80) with up to 20 wt% TOC in several thin shale beds.”

“Although total oil production from the CC is only about 8 MMBO, current estimates of the undiscovered resource is about 215 MMBO. With advancements in horizontal drilling, reservoir characterization, and reduction of structure related risks, the CC has the potential to become a significant resource play.”

     The figure below shows the Paradox Basin in 2003, before horizontal drilling in the Cane Creek commenced. It shows the location of some of the carbonate algal mound production.

     According to a 2021 report by the Utah Geological Survey’s Michael Vanden Berg, horizontal wells in the Cane Creek are capable of producing up to 1500 barrels per day. 

     Early drilling through the Cane Creek section encountered some strong hydrocarbon shows but was mostly disappointing. Early horizontal wells in the late 1990s had some success, but more successful horizontal wells were drilled in the Cane Creek in the mid-2010s. He notes that horizontal drilling success without hydraulic fracturing, as has been done in the area, remains challenging due to salt tectonics affecting natural fracture networks:

“However, the clastic (sandstone/shale/anhydrite) target zones are interbedded with several hundred feet of mechanically ductile salt layers. Over time, through the natural burial process, overburden pressure and regional stress regimes have caused the salt layers to flow like toothpaste, creating significant macro- and micro-structures within the reservoir zones. These heterogeneous structures make it difficult to predict natural fracture networks, fracture orientations, and subsequent horizontal well paths.”

     He notes that there are unique challenges to hydraulically fracturing horizontal wells in this interval, namely, avoiding salt interactions:

“The challenge in the Cane Creek is the limited thickness of the clastic zones, often only about 100 feet or less, and their bounding by salt. Typical hydraulic fracturing techniques would send fractures into the over-and underlying salt layers, which would mobilize the salt and clog any existing or created fractures, shutting down production.”

     The Utah Geological Survey began teaming up with Zephyr Energy in late 2020. Vanden Berg notes:

“The Cane Creek play has experienced some success over the years, with production totaling over 10 million barrels of oil since the first wells were drilled. However, there is an estimated 1.2 billion barrels of potential oil (barrels of oil equivalent, which includes natural gas) in the Cane Creek, meaning that 99.2 percent of the oil in the Cane Creek remains in-place. These numbers do not include all the other overlying clastic zones that also have petroleum production potential. So far, the challenges of this play have overshadowed the significant successes.”

     In September 2024, Zephyr Energy announced successful results of drilling, resulting in 2,100 barrels of oil equivalent per day with very little water production. This is after the well was acidized and with only 130 ft of reservoir completed. The well was not hydraulically fractured. In May 2025, further well results were announced.

“The well test results suggest that the chosen completion strategy (hydra-jet abrasive perforation and matrix acidization) was highly successful, and the test data results fit well with the Company’s P50 estimate of reservoir properties.  It should be noted that no fracture stimulation was performed to achieve this excellent well deliverability result. Fracture stimulation could offer further upside potential for both the well, and for the broader Paradox project development.”

“I could not be more pleased with the initial results from this latest production test,” said Colin Harrington, Zephyr's Chief Executive Officer. “Our team has worked exceptionally hard to crack the code to deliver highly economic production from this under-explored basin, and with today’s news I believe we have made huge strides forward.

“While the early results on this single well are fantastic and demonstrate commerciality, I am even more encouraged when considering the potential implications for the broader development of our Paradox project,” Harrington continued.

     The well results are summarized below and look quite favorable. If this play proves to be repeatable without hydraulic fracturing, it should be able to be produced at a favorable cost compared to other horizontal plays

 

References:

 

Paradox Basin. Wikipedia. Paradox Basin - Wikipedia

HETEROGENEOUS SHALLOW-SHELF CARBONATE BUILDUPS IN THE PARADOX BASIN, UTAH AND COLORADO: TARGETS FOR INCREASED OIL PRODUCTION AND RESERVES USING HORIZONTAL DRILLING TECHNIQUES (Contract No. DE-2600BC15128). DELIVERABLE 1.1.1 REGIONAL PARADOX FORMATION STRUCTURE AND ISOCHORE MAPS, BLANDING SUB-BASIN, UTAH. Submitted by Utah Geological Survey. December 2003. Microsoft Word - Deliverable1.1.1.doc

Utah’s Emerging Northern Paradox Basin Unconventional Oil Play. Michael Vanden Berg. Utah Geological Survey. January 4, 2021. Utah’s Emerging Northern Paradox Basin Unconventional Oil Play - Utah Geological Survey

Zephyr Energy conducts successful well production test in Paradox basin, Utah. World Oil. May 7, 2025. Zephyr Energy conducts successful well production test in Paradox basin, Utah

Zephyr Energy CEO on successful State 36-2R well production test results. Zephyr Energy. Zephyr Energy CEO on successful State 36-2R well production test results - Zephyr Energy

Geologic characterization of new Cane Creek cores from the northern part of the Paradox Basin, Utah. Elliot A. Jagniecki, Ryan D. Gall, and Michael D. Vanden Berg. Utah Geological Survey. September 15-18, 2019 – AAPG Rocky Mountain Section Meeting, Cheyenne, Wyoming. Posted: January 16, 2020. Geologic characterization of new Cane Creek cores from the northern part of the Paradox Basin, Utah

Assets: Paradox Basin. Zephyr Energy (website). Paradox Basin - Zephyr Energy

Assessing the Societal Benefits of Earth Science Information: New Paper Maps Methods to Do It

     A new paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) maps out methods of assessing the societal benefits of Earth science information. The study is mainly statistical. It involves information from sensors, satellites, radars, drones, and other remote sensing techniques, collecting data about climate, air, water, and the Earth.

     According to Phys.org

"We're trying to use the information we gather from all this instrumentation to answer questions, but we don't just want to know the scientific answers to these questions; we want to be able to take that science and use that to benefit society," said O'Hara, who is a project scientist at the campus's National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS).

"We use ESI to make real-world decisions that benefit people and society, such as managing climate impacts, improving agricultural yields, targeting policies to reduce air pollution and responding to natural disasters," O'Hara said.

"But we rarely measure the degree to which ESI improves decision outcomes. When we do, the valuation methods may only account for monetary benefits and fail to account for others—such as the benefits of social connection among people or with nature."    

     In the study, the researchers selected 171 studies that applied specific valuation methods to their data. They examined these methods and sorted them into three value types: instrumental (i.e., means to an end), where the benefit was measured in 1) monetary and 2) non-monetary (e.g., healthy crops or clean water) terms, and 3) relational, in which the benefit is less tangible, such as community-building or cultural significance.

     As an economic geologist, I know well the potential value of Earth science information, for example, in mapping the subsurface rocks in order to find oil & gas resources. It works. I mainly used well logs to map the subsurface, but also used another remote sensing technique: seismic reflection surveys, which have gotten very good over the years at accurately imaging the subsurface. Of course, those efforts were oriented toward the goal of economic success rather than direct societal benefit.

     The paper attempts to quantify the societal benefits of Earth science information obtained via remote sensing. This is no easy task and may be subject to various caveats. They note that many of the papers examined exhibited scientific benefits but not societal benefits. In time, some of those scientific benefits could be turned into societal benefits, I would assume.

     Again, societal value was assessed in terms of instrumental, intrinsic, and relational value types. The paper notes that Earth science information (ESI) can be turned into useful products “such as land cover maps, climate forecasts, and drought early warning systems that managers and policy makers can use to inform societally consequential decisions.”

     The authors note that assessing societal benefits is a common feature of conservation science and sustainable development:

“The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Values Assessment, a multiyear effort by scores of experts in diverse forms of valuation, identified three categories of value that reflect the ways in which nature and ecosystems are important for people: instrumental value as a means to satisfying specific human needs or interests, e.g., more revenue, higher crop yield, better health outcomes.”

     Quantifying societal value is not easy since it involves human value judgements, which can be quite subjective. Thus, at best, these are estimates or approximations. The value of any kind of information may be variable and typically hard to quantify. Examples of the economic value of information can be things like improved profit (as in my oil & gas geology example) and improved crop yields. Those values are more quantifiable than intrinsic and relational values such as fair decision processes, sustainability, justice, and human well-being. Basically, this paper is an attempt to quantify the societal value of this type of information.

     The figure below from the paper shows the valuation methods used in the context of the three value types: 1) instrumental (monetary), instrumental (non-monetary), and relational. Examples of instrumental non-monetary value include things like pollution reduction and lives saved. Examples of relational value include connection with land, poverty alleviation, social justice, and knowledge transfer within the community. These are mostly qualitative benefits that, for such a study as this, need to be converted into a quantitative form.

     Figure 3 from the paper, below, shows the differing methods used to determine the societal value of ESI, such as value of information (VOI) analysis, cost-benefit analysis, surveys, and statistical analysis. VOI refers to methods that assign value based on the data's ability to reduce uncertainty in decision-making.

     Figure 4, below, shows the different subject areas, or as they call them, general decision context areas, where societal values were assessed. These were classified into eight groups: 1) agriculture, 2) climate and resilience, 3) water resources, 4) ecological conservation, 5) capacity building, 6) disasters, 7) health and air quality, and 8) wildland fires. Categorizing as “various” means that multiple decision context areas were present. 

     Below is a graph of the multiple contexts.

     The authors also note that there is not much previous research to determine the societal value of ESI. I think the reason for this is that such valuations are difficult and vulnerable to scrutiny and possible disagreement.  

“Despite a broad, inclusive search for research on diverse methods for valuing Earth observation information, we found very few examples of evaluations of the societal benefits of ESI. Such a low inclusion rate (1.2%) may reflect a lack of general research on ESI and values, even though our search string was intentionally designed to be inclusive to maximize opportunities to find edge cases in the literature. The paucity of research directly addressing the value of ESI suggests a strong need to better understand how such information is being used to generate societal value, and to identify methods that can effectively assess this value.”

     They also note that the availability of data can influence societal benefits, with increased availability being associated with increased societal benefits.  

“The scientific, political, and commercial structures governing ESI, including whether datasets are publicly accessible or proprietary, freely available or commercial, in part determine who is likely to access benefits from their application, but also whose values are represented in the data (and whose are not). Clearly, making ESI data freely available enhances the ability to generate societal benefits; for example, citations and downloads surged for Landsat data following the shift from a paid service to a free and open data policy in 2008, ultimately stimulating billions of dollars in scientific and societal benefits.”

     I know of many geoscientists who have utilized freely and publicly available datasets to assist them in deriving economic value. Governments and scientific institutions such as the U.S. Geological Survey and state geological surveys provide valuable information for earth scientists to derive economic and other forms of societal value, for example. The U.S. EPA and many other institutions provide similarly valuable information. Another example is the satellite data that is used to quantify things like methane emissions from oil & gas systems, landfills, or wetlands. That arms us with knowledge to then fix discovered leaks, providing societal benefits such as less greenhouse gas emissions.

     Overall, I think it will remain difficult to arrive at a satisfactory quantitative valuation of the societal benefits of ESI, but it is an effort that we must continue to pursue as we are able. Some societal benefits of ESI are evident, and others are likely more covert but could become more evident in the future. This is being realized, for instance, with AI analyzing large datasets and uncovering hidden relationships in data that may be transferable to societal benefits. Companies must evaluate the potential economic benefits of their own ESI acquisition and analysis. For instance, oil & gas companies have geology and geophysics (G&G) budgets, where they need to determine how much money they will spend to unlock economic value. Of course, assessing purely economic value is not always easy, but it is usually easier than assessing societal value, at least quantitatively. The research here is certainly not groundbreaking, but more an attempt at quantifying something difficult to quantify. One might ask what the societal benefit is of assessing the societal benefits of ESI.  In that respect, it is useful as a proposed way to improve such assessments in the future.

    

 

References:

 

Moving beyond money to measure the true value of Earth science information. Sonia Fernandez. Phys.org. February 10, 2026. Moving beyond money to measure the true value of Earth science information

A systematic map of methods for assessing societal benefits of Earth science information. Casey C. O’Hara, Mabel Baez-Schon, Rebecca Chaplin-Kramer, +14 , and Benjamin S. Halpern. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Vol. 123 | No. 6. February 6, 2026. A systematic map of methods for assessing societal benefits of Earth science information | PNAS

Iranian Strikes on Qatari LNG Threaten Global Helium Supply Chains and Lead to Rationing Plans

 

     Recent missile and/or drone strikes in March by Iran on Qatari LNG infrastructure have taken about 17% of its LNG offline and it could take up to 3-5 years for repairs. The massive gas field, known as North Field, is basically the northern part of Iran’s South Pars gas field, or vice versa. It is one big field. The Qatari side also produces large amounts of helium from the field, and Qatar produces a third of the world’s helium. This means that global helium supplies are about to become constrained, perhaps very constrained. However, just minutes ago, as I type, a cease-fire has been announced, with one of the terms resuming shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Hopefully, peace and commerce will prevail and chances for a better government in Iran. However, there is no guarantee.  

     A March 19 article in Reuters summarizes the issue:

     “The fallout extends well beyond LNG. Qatar's exports of condensate will drop by ​around 24%, while liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) will fall 13%. Helium output will fall 14%, and naphtha and ​sulphur will both drop ⁠by 6%.”

    The lost LNG production is expected to impact exports to Italy, Belgium, South Korea, and China. Annual revenue could drop by 20 billion.  I found the following quote concerning, as it underscores the damage done:

 “The scale of the damage from the attacks has set the region back 10 ​to 20 years, he said.”

     Helium is used in multiple stages of semiconductor production, cooling, many medical technologies, energy technologies, and much more. Since the bombing, countries have begun strategizing, managing stockpiles, and shifting shipping routes to keep supplies available. However, some shortages are expected. Helium prices have risen by 50 to 100%.

"Data from the U.S. Geological Survey shows the country produced about 63 million cubic meters of helium in 2025, out of roughly 190 million cubic meters globally, accounting for close to one-third of the world's supply."

"If ⁠those conditions (supply disruption) persist, the market is effectively missing about 5.2 million cubic meters of helium per month," said Aleksandr Romanenko, CEO of market research firm IndexBox.”

     It is likely that Qatari gas production, including helium production, will be suppressed for at least a few years. I wonder if U.S. helium drilling will pick up pace. Several new and existing fields are being tested and developed. That development could accelerate. Qatari helium is produced with natural gas. One might consider it a byproduct of more voluminous, thus more valuable, natural gas. In other fields, it is produced without or with much lower amounts of natural gas. In the case of Qatar, if natural gas production drops, so does helium production.

     An article in The Conversation describes the particular challenges of storing and transporting helium:

“Exporting helium is not simple. It requires highly specialised cryogenic containers to keep it extremely cold during transport. These shipments must pass through narrow trade routes such as the Strait of Hormuz, making the supply chain vulnerable to political conflict.”

“The specialised containers are insulated, but not refrigerated. This means that, due to the physical properties of helium, the element will escape from the containers over time.”

     Below, the article gives some strategies for managing helium supply.

References:

 

Iran war deflates critical helium production supplies. Avery Lotz. Axios AI+. April 7, 2026. Iran war deflates critical helium production supplies

Exclusive: Iran attacks wipe out 17% of Qatar’s LNG capacity for up to five years, QatarEnergy CEO says. Maha El Dahan, Andrew Mills, and Yousef Saba. Reuters. March 20, 2026. Exclusive: Iran attacks wipe out 17% of Qatar’s LNG capacity for up to five years, QatarEnergy CEO says | Reuters

The world’s supply of helium is being threatened by the Iran war. Gavin D. J. Harper. The Conversation. April 2, 2026. The world’s supply of helium is being threatened by the Iran war

Helium Production by Country 2026. World Population Review. Helium Production by Country 2026

Helium prices soar as Qatar LNG halt exposes fragile supply chain: Helium spot prices have doubled since ⁠the Middle East crisis began. Arunima Kumar. Reuters News. March 12, 2026. Helium prices soar as Qatar LNG halt exposes fragile supply chain

 

Eni Discovers 2TCF of Natural Gas and 130 Million Barrels of Condensate in the Mediterranean, Offshore Egypt: It Could Reduce Egypt’s Gas Import Bill

     In partnership with BP, Italian oil & gas giant Eni announced a recent discovery offshore Egypt in the Mediterranean Sea of 2TCF of natural gas and 130 million barrels of associated condensate. The large find is from the Denise W-1 offshore exploration well in the Temsah Concession in the Eastern Mediterranean, about 70 kilometers offshore in 95 meters of water depth and less than 10 kilometers from existing infrastructure. The nearness to existing infrastructure will allow it to be “tied back” and decrease the time to production. This will be good for Egypt since regional natural gas import prices have skyrocketed there since the advent of the Iran War. Egypt imports a significant amount of natural gas. Other recent oil & gas finds in onshore Egypt will also be helpful in this regard. Eni and BP have a long-established relationship with Egypt. The Temsah discovery dovetails with the massive Zohr gas field, discovered in 2015, with originally estimated reserves of 30TCF.

     Below is a map of geologic structures in the region, which appear to be dense. I am guessing the hydrocarbons are from a structural trap or at least a trap influenced by structure.

     Egypt imports natural gas from Qatar and Israel, from the North Field and Leviathan Fields, respectively, and those imports have been disrupted by the Iranian conflict.

“Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said last month the conflict had nearly tripled Egypt's natural gas import bill, from $560 million (€515mn) to $1.65 billion (€1.52bn,) per month.”

     Other recent oil & gas finds onshore Egypt include Apache’s discovery well in the Western Desert, which is expected to yield 26 million cubic feet per day and 2700 barrels of condensate per day. Another recent oil discovery occurred in the Gulf of Suez.

    

References:

 

Gas discovery off Egypt's coast comes at a critical moment for Iran war. Una Hajdari. AfricaNews. April 7, 2026. Gas discovery off Egypt's coast comes at a critical moment for Iran war

Italy's Eni announces mega offshore gas discovery in Egypt: 2 Tcf offshore gas discovery with fast track development potential. Zawya Projects. April 7, 2026. Italy's Eni announces mega offshore gas discovery in Egypt

Truthfulness of the Existence of the Pelusium Megashear Fault System, East of Cairo, Egypt. Mohamed A. Gamal. International Journal of Geosciences, 2013, 4, 212-227. Truthfulness_of_the_Existence_of_the_Pelusium_Mega.pdf

 

Frequent Plowing and Heavy Tractor Traffic Disrupts Soil Structure and Makes it More Vulnerable to Flooding and Drought, According to Study, and Less Intensive Management for Agricultural Soil Works Best, According to Another Study

   

     Two separate studies indicate that leaving soil less disturbed retains important soil structures and makes the soil more resilient to flooding and droughts, and better for agriculture. In particular, less plowing means better soil health. Thus, conservation tillage, which can be reduced tillage or no-till methods, preserves soil health.

 

Paper 1: Agroseismology and the Impact of Farming Practices on Soil Hydrodynamics

     A study led by Dr. Shi Qibin from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with international partners and published in the journal Science, utilized fiber optic sensors to analyze soil structure before and after deep plowing.

     According to Phys.org:

“The researchers converted standard fiber-optic cables—similar to those used in high-speed internet networks—into a large-scale sensor array…”

     The array was used to detect tiny ground vibrations caused by water flow and also to monitor that water flow. They confirmed that rainfall in heavily cultivated soil tends to pool near the surface, where more of it evaporates. In contrast, undisturbed soil filters rainwater and tends to store it deeper, where it can be better accessed by plant roots. Undisturbed soil retains water through capillary forces, which help to hold the soil together.

"Rather than a simple collection of particles, soil is a porous medium in which the structure functions like capillary vessels within the water cycle," Dr. Shi explained.

     Plowing and compacting the soil with heavy machinery breaks up those capillary networks that stabilize the soil and manage water for plants.

     The study is unique in that it utilized distributed acoustic (fiber optic) sensing, or agroseismology, with physics-based hydromechanical modeling to essentially “listen” to the soil to analyze it.

     Interestingly, the paper detailed implications of the study’s conclusions on agricultural soil health, Earth system modeling, and geotechnical engineering. In terms of soil health, the paper noted that “tillage-related disturbance impairs moisture retention and thus drought resilience, an effect pertinent to agricultural sustainability.” For Earth system modeling, there are implications for how land–atmosphere exchanges are represented in climate models based on these soil-water interactions. Potential implications from the paper for geotechnical engineering are given below:

“…our results show that moisture-driven, capillary-induced changes challenge the assumption of a static geotechnical layer. This aligns with growing evidence that groundwater fluctuations and seasonal variability can modify site response and promote ground failure. Earthquake-triggered liquefaction, traditionally considered limited to fully saturated soil, may also occur in partially saturated soil once a percolation threshold is exceeded (~70% saturation), and water levels remain a key control on failure potential. As climate variability and urbanization alter near-surface hydrology, incorporating the effects of hydrological processes on soil stability becomes essential for assessing ground failure and designing resilient infrastructure. Our fiber-optic sensing approach could enable in-situ monitoring of geostructures and real-time feedback on evolving stiffness as part of long-term infrastructure surveillance.

 

Paper 2: Conventional and Organic Farms with More Intensive Management Have Lower Soil Functionality

     Another study, also published in the journal Science, by a research team led by the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) concluded that undisturbed soils with less intensive management are more functional for agriculture.

     According to Phys.org:

"A multifunctional soil is essential for sustainable food production, because plants get their food from it," state the researchers, from NIOO and Wageningen University & Research (the Netherlands), and the Universität Tübingen (Germany). "Soil also has indispensable roles in water storage, coping with climate change and disease suppression."

     The study concluded that the intensity of tillage was the main factor that differentiated the functionality of the soil, with less tilling corresponding with greater functionality, regardless of whether the plots were conventional or organic.

"On all farms, including organic ones, it is important at this point not to cultivate the soil too intensively. For example: plowing less. Inverting the soil during plowing is a very big disruption to soil life."

     In addition to less plowing, utilizing more mixtures of grasses and legumes, such as clovers, contributes to a high-functioning, healthy soil. Cover cropping was found to have a positive effect on soil functionality. Soil functionality was measured by crop yields and satellite-derived measures of “greenness.” As noted in the abstract below:

“Soil organic carbon content and bacterial biomass, respectively, were the strongest abiotic and biotic predictors of soil multifunctionality.”

     The study examined both sandy and clay soils and found similar results. The researchers noted that, based on the study’s conclusions, a new goal could be:

"Productive de-intensification. If it is successful, you will get more functions from a less intensively cultivated soil while retaining the crop yield as much as possible," they state.

 

 

References: 

 

Fiber-optic sensors reveal how farming destroys soil's natural structure. Science X staff. Phys.org. March 22, 2026. Fiber-optic sensors reveal how farming destroys soil's natural structure

Agroseismology and the impact of farming practices on soil hydrodynamics. Qibin Shi, David R. Montgomery, Abigail L.S. Swann, Nicoleta C. Cristea, Ethan F. Williams, Nan You, Simon Jeffery, Joe Collins, Ana Prada Barrio, [...] , and Marine A. Denolle. Science 10.1126/science.aec0970 (March 2026). Agroseismology and the impact of farming practices on soil hydrodynamics | Science

Less intensive management works best for agricultural soil, study finds. Science X staff. Phys.org. April 8, 2025. Less intensive management works best for agricultural soil, study finds

Conventional and organic farms with more intensive management have lower soil functionality. Sophie Q. van Rijssel, Guusje J. Koorneef, G. F. (Ciska) Veen, Mirjam M. Pulleman, Ron G. M. de Goede, Rob N. J. Comans, Wim H. van der Putten, and Kyle Mason-Jones. Science. 24 Apr 2025. Vol 388, Issue 6745. pp. 410-415. Conventional and organic farms with more intensive management have lower soil functionality | Science

Endangered Species Act Exemptions in U.S. Gulf Drilling Enacted Due to National Security Concerns

      The Trump administration cited national security concerns in its decision to waive Endangered Species Act requirements for drilling offshore in the Gulf. This is the first time such an occurrence has happened. The plan prompted a March 31 meeting of the Endangered Species Committee, also known as the “God Squad,” to consider the matter. One species of concern is the endangered Rice’s whale, of which there are an estimated 50-100 whales left alive. The committee met for the first time in about 30 years. The committee is made up of members of Trump’s cabinet and other prominent administration members.

     Pete Hegseth, who requested the exemption, noted that the regulation hurts the U.S. and advantages our adversaries

“Disruptions to Gulf oil production doesn’t hurt just us, it benefits our adversaries,” Hegseth told the committee. “We cannot allow our own rules to weaken our standing and strengthen those who wish to harm us. When development in the Gulf is chilled, we are prevented from producing the energy we need as a country and as a department.”

     Others are concerned about the fate of the whales:

“If Trump is successful here, he could be the first person in history to knowingly extirpate a species from the face of the earth. That’s how precarious the condition of the Rice’s whale is,” said Patrick Parenteau, emeritus professor of law at Vermont Law School. Parenteau dismissed Hegseth’s claims of a security threat, since companies have continued to look for and extract oil in the Gulf despite legal challenges over the critically endangered whale.”

     All I know is that boat traffic and seismic air gun surveys can harm marine species. In actuality, I doubt that much, if any harm will come to the whales regarding this decision. When the government changes or even when the oil & gas markets stabilize, it is likely that the waiver will be removed.

     Environmental groups, including the ultra-radical Center for Biological Diversity, plan to sue since that is what they always do. Industry groups favored the rollback.

“Serial litigation from activist groups targeting a lawful, well-regulated industry should not be allowed to indefinitely obstruct projects of clear national importance,” said Erik Milito with the National Ocean Industries Association, which represents offshore developers.

     Other potential species that could be affected include sturgeons and sea turtles. Ship strikes, oil spills, and other impacts, such as seismic surveying, are the main dangers. A spill in Mexican coastal waters this month spread 373 miles (600 kilometers), contaminating at least six species and polluting seven protected natural reserves, according to U.S. News and World Report. It is unlikely that Mexico has environmental protections as robust as those in the U.S.

     The Endangered Species Act was enacted in 1973, and the committee was established in 1978, and changes with the administration in power. The committee has met two other times in the past. One was in 1992 to consider a logging request that could harm the endangered northern spotted owl habitats in the Pacific Northwest. That request was withdrawn. The only other time an exemption was actually granted was in 1979 to build a dam on the Platte River in Wyoming, which affected the endangered whooping crane.

     I really doubt that this decision will have much of an effect on increasing drilling or getting oil to market much faster.

  

 

 

References:

 

Hegseth Invokes National Security in Seeking to Exempt Gulf Oil and Gas Activities from Endangered Species Act: ‘God Squad’ federal panel to meet next week to address exemption request. Sierra Club. Press Release. March 26, 2026. Hegseth Invokes National Security in Seeking to Exempt Gulf Oil and Gas Activities from Endangered Species Act | Sierra Club

Trump Officials Exempt Oil and Gas Drilling in the Gulf From Endangered Species Rules: Trump administration officials are exempting oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico from the Endangered Species Act. Associated Press. March 31, 2026. Trump Officials Exempt Oil and Gas Drilling in the Gulf From Endangered Species Rules

Rice's whale. Wikipedia. Rice's whale - Wikipedia

Cultivating Heat: Part 5: High Enthalpy Geothermal (>250 deg C) and The Potential of Supercritical Geothermal

   

     Hot, deep, pressured, and challenging are four words that can describe supercritical geothermal energy development. New heat records have recently been noted for drilling into hot rocks in high-enthalpy geothermal, which refers to rocks that exceed 250 deg Celsius. Rocks as high as 400 deg C have been drilled into successfully.

     Company Mazama touted its drilling project into the Newberry Volcano in Oregon as the hottest in the world, but projects in Iceland and now Utah are even hotter. Mazama’s project is thus far the hottest EGS project involving hydraulic fracturing of dry hot rock. Mazama plans two wells in 2026, and they think they can drill into and transport proppant at 400 deg C, which is the plan for this year.

     At a temperature of 374 deg C, water becomes supercritical, changing its form, giving it more energy per unit of mass, and improving economics. At these temperatures, 40MW per well pair is achievable, and up to 50MW per well pair is possible. Mazama’s first power production pilot is planned to be a 15MW power plant. For EGS projects in supercritical temperatures, fracking is more of a challenge than drilling. This is because during drilling, the drilling fluid or mud is pumped from the surface, where it is cool and it cools when it returns to the surface. The fluids can be cooled by about 200 deg C, which makes drilling more doable. These hot projects utilize stainless steel frac equipment, which is slightly more expensive but not overly so.

     The Mazama project in Oregon is using 9-5/8” casing, which allows higher flow rates than the more common 7” casing wells. Bigger casing is heavier and requires bigger rigs to drill, but is manageable. Pressures in these wells can be very high, some as high as 18,000 psi. Pressure, like temperature, increases on a regional gradient with depth. Most wells in the U.S. West are expected to be at about 4000 meters or 12,000 feet in vertical depth. Flow control technology is used to prevent thermal short circuiting (TSC). This includes the use of sliding sleeves made out of the same material as the casing,  carbon steel. Corrosion-resistant alloys and titanium could also be used. These are more expensive but do not affect the total well cost too much.

     In a recent Enverus webinar presented by Blake Wood with questions and input from Enverus’s Graham Bain, it was noted that Wood thinks existing drilling and frac tools could work at up to 600 deg C. Work is underway to build sensors that can withstand 900 deg C. Comparing hydraulic fracturing of supercritical geothermal wells to shale wells, it was noted that geothermal wells drilled into granite are common and that granite is brittle and fracks as well as shale and sometimes even better. However, failing downhole components and transporting proppant further out from the wellbore remain significant challenges. The current process is to drill the first well and frack it while monitoring the frac with a second well to determine where frac swarms go, and then drill the second well into the frac swarms. In the future, simultaneous hydraulic fracturing can improve economics as it has with shale wells.

     Water loss is a big concern for EGS. This refers to drilling fluids that are lost into the formation during drilling. Lowering reservoir pressure can lower water loss to the goal of <1%. For EGS, where there is no existing hydrothermal system and existing natural fracture network, water loss should be less than in places where there is.

     He mentions a project in Utah, very close to Fervo’s project, in collaboration with the DOE, which is also near a conventional power plant. He notes that LCOE for the new project in Utah is expected to be about $52 per MWh for a first-of-a-kind project. Fervo is at $91 per MWh with PPAs at over $100 per MWh. The company whose name I missed from the webinar, and I can’t seem to find online, is talking to potential buyers and working on PPAs. These projects, as well as those of Quaise Energy, which I will address later in this post, will get results on flow rates and power outputs in about 18 months. He suggests that in the coming years, more supercritical EGS projects will be developed in places like Japan and the EU, possibly Germany. More research and data acquisition are needed, including a fiber optic system that can withstand 400 deg C and last for ten years.

     He notes that drilling and stimulation costs are about the same for wells, but the highest cost part of these projects is by far building the power plants. He also notes that there is a bottleneck in turbine production due to the need for customized turbines and that this is not related to the existing bottleneck on gas turbines.

     Single-point of entry with frac sleeves can control frac directions better than plug-and-perf, as is used in the oil & gas industry. Frac stage spacing = 12-13 meters (36-39 feet), which is significantly closer than stage spacing in oil & gas, which is on the order of 100-250 feet. This increases frac cost but is acknowledged as a need.

 

Quaise Energy Successfully Tests Its Millimeter Wave Drilling Technology

     Quaise Energy is developing a new kind of drilling into hot rocks via its millimeter wave technology, which vitrifies the rock as it drills, theoretically making that vitrified rock into a de facto casing for the well. It utilizes a device known as a gyrotron that produces energy waves similar to microwaves and lasers, but on a different part of the spectrum. The company successfully tested its drilling technology recently in Texas.

     According to the MIT Energy Initiative:

“Quaise Energy, an MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI) spinout developing geothermal energy, hosted the first of several live public demonstrations of their drilling technology this September at Marble Falls, TX. The company proved their technology can drill into the granite outcrop in a quarry with pure energy instead of physical drilling bits.”  

“In July, Quaise successfully drilled a 118-meter hole in the field—outside of what was previously controlled experimental conditions. The September demonstration showed that they can drill through some of the hardest rock in the world at a rate of up to five meters per hour. According to Henry Phan, the vice president of engineering at Quaise, today’s commercial operations’ average drilling rate is a tenth of a meter per hour through granite.”

     In its demonstrations, the company proved that it could vaporize rock using high-frequency electromagnetic waves, drilling 387 feet (118 meters) into solid granite without any physical contact. The next goal for the months ahead is to drill deeper and faster.

     Quaise is also working on Project Obsidian, also near the Newberry Volcano in Oregon, where depths to hot rock are shallow. According to Power Magazine’s Darrel Proctor:

“Geoffrey Garrison, vice president of Operations at Quaise Energy, said his company “is actively developing Project Obsidian in Oregon, the world’s first superhot geothermal power plant. The area has been continuously studied for decades, with superhot geothermal temperatures relatively close to the surface. Project Obsidian is currently undergoing several phases of construction and development before moving into power plant construction and operation. We expect the facility to be fully operational and generating power [eventual output would be 250 MW] for the local grid by 2030.”

     According to the webinar, Quaise’s technology is fascinating but may not be needed if other methods can tap hot rock. However, in order to drill into even hotter rock, say 450-1000 deg C, current rotary drilling will not suffice.  

  

 

 

References:

 

Supercritical Geothermal: Drilling Into the Hottest Rock on Earth: Innovation Underground – Webinar by Enverus. April 1, 2026.

MITEI spinout Quaise Energy successfully demonstrates their geothermal energy drilling technology in the field: Company’s technology could unlock clean, renewable geothermal energy using pure energy. Kelley Travers. MIT Energy Initiative.  November 3, 2025. MITEI spinout Quaise Energy successfully demonstrates their geothermal energy drilling technology in the field | MIT Energy Initiative

US firm’s record-breaking drill taps granite 387 feet deep to unlock geothermal power: The live demo showcased the first field use of this non-contact drilling method. Georgina Jedikovska. Interesting Engineering. September 18, 2025. US firm drills record 387 feet into granite with millimeter wave system

Geothermal energy turns red hot: MIT Energy Initiative symposium maps path to tap the planet’s heat-rich rocks for clean power at scale. MIT Energy Initiative. Leda Zimmerman. March 26, 2026. Geothermal energy turns red hot | MIT Energy Initiative

Geothermal’s Rise a Hot Topic Worldwide. Darrell Proctor. Power Magazine. April 1, 2026. Geothermal's Rise a Hot Topic Worldwide

Generation and Distribution: Part 9. Quaise Energy March 16, 2026. Generation and Distribution: Part 9 | Quaise Energy