Ongoing Resource Assessment of Geothermal Energy from Deep Sedimentary Basins in Texas

Abstract

A Texas resource assessment study documents a large untapped heat resource within deep sedimentary basins. Long considered a liability by the oil and gas industry and uninvestigated by the geothermal industry, this sleeping heat energy giant boasts many thousands of exajoules waiting for electrical power production. Subsurface temperature-depth (t-d) recordings from O&G log headers provide minimum temperatures found underground. Temperatures from 250 (121) to over 400oF (204oC) occur at varying depths and in different geographical areas. Presently five large areas are defined that have strong potential for developing geothermal electric. A sixth area may exist as an independent geologic environment.