The Montney Play is the foremost example of unconventional gas play in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin. Large deposits of shale and siltstone with poor permeability contain vast quantities of gas in the west and oil in the coarser eastern facies of the Montney Formation. An estimated 50 trillion cubic feet of natural gas is trapped in this deposit.

Recent technological advances created new opportunities within this play, allowing operators to extract hydrocarbons from this resilient reservoir. Horizontal drilling following steep build sections allow boreholes to open up more reservoir, while heavy invert mud keeps open holes under control. Multi-stage fracturing, a process that cracks up the rock by shooting high pressure water and sand into the formation, creates permeable conduits within the otherwise tight formation. The Montney reservoir has little to no water, so large scale fracturing does generally not result in well flooding. This, combined with the thickness of the Montney stack, makes it an ideal candidate for multi-stage fracturing.

The Montney Formation has a sandy facies in Western Alberta, where oil is produced in the Sturgeon Lakes and Saddle Hills areas. Natural gas is extracted from siltstone reservoir in the Dawson Creek and Pouce Coupe areas and gas rich silty shale occurs in the northern and western fringes of the deposit.

Chinook Consulting assists oil and gas companies with field and office geological supervision of operations pertaining all areas of the Montney Formation. Several of our wellsite geologists are specialized in this particular play. During the last few years our company amassed excellent expertise and knowledge related to the geology and drilling process of the Montney Formation.

• Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. Montney Formation
• New Technolog Magazine. Huge Resource Play At Montney