Emerging Plays

The Grosmont Carbonate Trend

The Grosmont Formation is a stratigraphic unit of Upper Devonian (Frasnian) age. It is present in the sub-surface of north-eastern Alberta,¹ south-west of the Sub-Cretaceous erosional edge and north-east of the Ireton Shale facies of central Alberta.

 

The ERCB estimates more than 400 billion barrels (65 billion m³) bitumen in place are trapped in the heavily karsted Grosmont Carbonate Trend.² These reserves elevate the Grosmont to the likes of the Ghawar oilfield in Saudi Arabia (90 billion recoverable barrels) and Kirkuk carbonate oil filed in Iraq (15 billion recoverable barrels).

Oil saturated laminations in dolomite

 

The hydrocarbons contained in the Grosmont (and overlying Nisku Formation) have viscosities of 5 to 9 API, with specific gravity in excess of 1000 kg/m³, classified as extra heavy oil, commonly referred to as bitumen.

Experimenting with hydrocarbon extraction from the Grosmont dates back to the 1970s, when the Alberta Oil Sands Technology and Research Authority crown corporation, along with industry partners Union Oil Canada and Chevron Resources Canada encountered little success. Extraction pilot programs are currently conducted by Shell, Laricina Energy, Athabasca Oil Corporation, OSUM Oilsands Corp, Husky Energy and Sunshine Oilsands.

Investors in the emerging play include Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (backing Laricina), Korea Investment Corporation (OSUM and Laricina), China Investment Corp (large shareholder in Sunshine Oilsands), Blackstone Capital Partners, Goldman Sachs and many others.

Oil along open fracture

 

Laricina experimented with cold solvent injection/production cycles staring in 2007 at Saleski (85-19W4). Recovery enhancing technologies currently being tested include SAGD, SC-SAGD and TAGD. These extraction techniques complement proven drilling methods (horizontal drilling) and high resolution seismic mapping. Shell operates a In situ Upgrading Process (IUP) since 2009 south of Chipewyan Lake (91-23W4), a process also known as TAGD (Thermal Assisted Gravity Drainage). Laricina and OSUM conduct a horizontal Solvent-Cyclic Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage (SC-SAGD) pilot project in Saleski. Other technologies considered for the extraction of bitumen from the Grosmont include Electro-Thermal Dynamic Stripping Process (ET-DSP), In Situ Combustion (ISC), Cyclic Steam Stimulation (CSS), other variants of Vapour Extraction (VAPEX), and Steam Flooding.

 

Technical challenges are not limited to hydrocarbon extraction. The low pressure, intensely karsted, vug ridden carbonate poses difficulty in drilling and appraisal. Lost circulation is a common occurrence (with the associated risk of stuck pipe), while low core recoveries due to the brittle nature of the rock can paint an incomplete picture of the reservoir. Bitumen filled vugs range in size from millimetres to tens of meters in diameter, creating difficult drilling conditions, especially in horizontal holes. The so called "dolo-fudge" (dolomite grains floating in bitumen matrix) is even less consolidated. Recent advances in coring techniques and horizontal drilling procedures overcame most of the drilling challenges and open the road towards commercial development.

Heavy oil oozong from vugs

 

If the commercial viability of heavy oil extraction from the Grosmont can be proved, it will be a game changer, not only for Alberta's reserves, but for the entire global oil and gas landscape.

Chinook Consulting assists heavy oil operators with field and office geological supervision for delineation, production pilots and development projects targeting the Grosmont Carbonate. Several of our wellsite geologists have substantial exposure to this particular formation.

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References:

1. Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. Grosmont Formation
2. Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board. Alberta 's Reserves 2009 and Supply/Demand Outlook 2010 – 2019

   © June, 2012, Chinook Consulting Services

Two years ago, the Cardium Formation in central Alberta was stale and tired, with well known areas drilled to exhaustion, and fringes deemed un-economic. Today, thanks in large part to new technologies that include horizontal drilling and multi-stage fracturing ("multistage horizontals", as nonsensical as it sounds, is becoming a mainstream term), the Cardium is once more at the centre of Alberta's recovering energy sector.

The Pembina field is one of Alberta's most mature fields. It emerged in the late 1950s and became the largest onshore field by area in the 1960s. The Cardium Formation stood at the center of this oil field, as it has outstanding storage properties, the thick overlaying shales of the Wapiabi and Muskiki Formation ensure stratigraphic traps, while dark underlying shales act as source rocks. 221 million m³ of crude oil and 30.8 million m³ natural gas were produced between 1953 and 2008 from the Cardium Formation.

Enhanced recovery operations including water and CO2 flood schemes were tried in the water free Cardium sand. However, it was horizontal drilling combined with multi-stage fracturing stimulation techniques that dramatically increase the recovery factor.

A host of junior and mid sized oil and gas companies applied the new drilling technologies (proven already in high profile plays such as the Montney, Horn River and Bakken) to the Pembina Cardium. In secrecy at first, the new trend spread like wildfire within a year, with more and more operators embracing the idea as oil prices stay relatively high; the play extends well outside of the Pembina field, towards the distal reaches of the Cardium fairway, from the Deep Basin in the north-west, south towards Calgary and east past Edmonton.

The Cardium Formation is by no means a singular case. Other plays re-opened on large scale by multi-stage fracs in horizontal wellpaths include the shallow Notikewin, Glauconite sandstone and Viking Formation, with smaller scale schemes in the Falher, Cadotte, Wilrich, Dunvegan and even Nordegg. Many other niche plays are sure to follow.

Chinook Consulting assists oil and gas companies with field and office geological supervision of operations pertaining to all areas of the Cardium Fairway. Several of our wellsite geologists are specialized in this particular play. Our company has solid expertise related to the specific drilling process of the Cardium play.

• Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. Cardium Formation

The Horn River play is one of the latest grand resource plays to emerge in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin. Following in the footsteps of such shale gas plays as the Barnett, Antrim and Caney Shale, the Horn River discovery lead to a surge in land sales in remote north-eastern British Columbia. Mineral rights for more than a million acres were secured by oil and gas companies in the last few years.

While the presence of natural gas in this stratigraphical unit was known for decades, it took recent technological advances to make this play economical, allowing operators to extract hydrocarbons from the shale. Horizontal drilling allows boreholes to open up more reservoir; multi well pad drilling minimizes the environmental impact; 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, rips open the otherwise tight formation. The thickness of the shale stack makes this an ideal candidate for multi-stage fracturing

Large quantities of natural gas are present in various horizons of the Horn River Formation. Commercial quantities of gas can be extracted from the Muskwa shale, Otterpark Member or Evie Member. Natural gas reserve estimates vary from 100 to 600 trillion cubic feet, twice to ten times higher than reserves of the Montney Play, which is successfully drilled south of the Horn River Basin. Ten to twenty percent of the gas can be recovered with current technology.

Chinook Consulting assists oil and gas companies with field and office geological supervision of operations pertaining to all areas of the Horn River Basin. Several of our wellsite geologists are specialized in this particular play. Well positioned since the discovery of this play, our company amassed solid expertise and detailed knowledge related to the challenging geology and complex drilling process of the Horn River Shale.

Striplog

• Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. Horn River Formation
• National Post. Natural gas in shale

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