Onshore and shallow offshore Beaufort-Mackenzie Basin, Northern Canada

Conference · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1988

OSTI ID:6503722

Hemingson, A P; Collot, B L

Since 1965, 164 exploratory wildcats have been drilled in the Beaufort-Mackenzie basin of northern Canada, resulting in 51 discoveries of oil and/or gas. The Geological Survey of Canada estimates of discovered reserves in these fields amount to more than 10 tcf of gas and 1.2 billion bbl of oil. The petroleum habitat for the onshore and shallow offshore (less than 30 ft isobath) portions of the basin, where 31 of these multipool oil and gas discoveries have been made, is still not fully delineated. Two petroleum provinces with different play types have been identified in this portion of the basin. 1. The southeast margin province includes the Tuk Peninsula and the central onshore Mackenzie delta. Here, tilted fault blocks involving Lower Cretaceous sandstones have been the main play type since the first oil discovery at Atkinson Point in 1970. However, the largest single oil accumulation in this part of the basin was found in shallow Tertiary sands in 1985 near the community of Tuktoyaktuk. In addition, minor discoveries have also been made in Paleozoic carbonates. 2. The second petroleum province underlies the northern part of the modern-day Mackenzie delta, and includes Richards Island and the shallow offshore. Faulted anticlines involving lower Teriary regressive sand wedges are the main play type. In this area, 46 wildcats have resulted in 19 discoveries. The identification of source rocks in this province is more illusive, but geochemical studies suggest that lower Tertiary shales, dominated by terrestrial organic matter, likely constitute the main source.

• OSTI ID: 6503722
• Report Number(s): CONF-880301-
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020100 -- Petroleum-- Reserves-- (-1989)
020200* -- Petroleum-- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
03 NATURAL GAS
030100 -- Natural Gas-- Reserves-- (-1989)
030200 -- Natural Gas-- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
ARCTIC OCEAN
BEAUFORT SEA
CANADA
CARBONATE ROCKS
CENOZOIC ERA
CHEMISTRY
CRETACEOUS PERIOD
ENERGY SOURCES
EXPLORATION
EXPLORATORY WELLS
FLUIDS
FOSSIL FUELS
FUEL GAS
FUELS
GAS FUELS
GASES
GEOCHEMISTRY
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
GEOLOGY
MESOZOIC ERA
MINERAL RESOURCES
NATURAL GAS
NATURAL GAS DEPOSITS
NORTH AMERICA
OFFSHORE SITES
ONSHORE SITES
PETROLEUM
PETROLEUM DEPOSITS
PETROLEUM GEOLOGY
RESERVES
RESOURCE ASSESSMENT
RESOURCES
ROCKS
SANDSTONES
SEAS
SEDIMENTARY BASINS
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
SOURCE ROCKS
SURFACE WATERS
TERTIARY PERIOD
WELLS