She comes in colours everywhere She combs her hair She's like a rainbow Coming, colours in the air Oh, everywhere She comes in colours She’s a rainbow; Jagger and Richards While the Stones were exploring the genre of psychedelic rock, companies were evaluating Devonian rocks in northwestern Alberta. The result of the former effort was not one of their best ever songs. The latter resulted in 100/07-32-109-08W6/00, the discovery well for the Keg River reef play and the current [Read more]
Well of the Week – Maritime Oilfields Ltd. No. 4
Recently Blaine Higgs, the premier of New Brunswick, has been speculating on reviving the “shale gas” industry in his province. This Petro Ninja – Enlighten Geoscience Well of the Week eschews a discussion on the politics of this question but is, as always, interested in the geology of the New Brunswick oil and gas industry and Maritime Oilfields Ltd. No. 4, the discovery well for the Stoney Creek field in 1909. At this point, many readers will say “There is an oil and gas industry in New [Read more]
Well of the Week – Wells that make you go “Hmmm” no. VII
There are several intriguing aspects of the Jean Marie member of the Devonian Redknife formation. I will quickly discuss a few of them before the big reveal of today’s Well of the Week. First of all, maybe I am an old softie but I think the name Jean Marie is much more attractive than plain old “Upper Nisku equivalent.” The real appeal, however, is due to many technical facets of this play. Stratigraphy, sedimentology, structure, diagenesis and petroleum geology all come to bear. The Jean [Read more]
Column: Well of the Week – Wells that make you go “Hmmm” no. VI
Rattle big black bones in the danger zone There's a rumblin' groan down below There's a big dark town, it's a place I've found There's a world going on underground -Underground (Tom Waits) The titular Petro Ninja – Enlighten Geoscience Well of the Week is 100/11-31-002-22W4/00. Why is this abandoned Wabamun exploration well being shown such attention? It isn’t because of this well’s stupendous cumulative production or the massive field it discovered, but for much less initially [Read more]
Well of the Week – A carbonate is a carbonate by any other age?
I know. I know. Many of you will point out that in the kick-off to this Petro Ninja – Enlighten Geoscience Well of the Week series on the New Golden Age of Carbonates I made a big deal about how the Paleozoic was the home for big carbonate plays. So why am I concluding the series by discussing a Mesozoic formation? Well, as Ralph Waldo Emerson said: “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines." And, more importantly, Charlie [Read more]
Well of the Week – What is in a name (or a core)?
For a long time, my inner etymologist was intrigued by some names in the Alberta Table of Formations. A case in point is the Grosmont formation. The Grosmont is named after the nearby town of Grosmont. But what is Grosmont named after? Does the northeastern Alberta town have a namesake in Yorkshire? Or is it a reference in French to a Big Mountain? I’m pretty sure no one had the foresight to realize it could refer to a huge mound of oil in the Grosmont carbonates. This chapter in the Petro [Read more]
Well of the Week – Can carbonates save the world?
“Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more.” W. Shakespeare, Henry V (follow the link to read the whole speech) The oil and gas industry has a long history of developing the technology to mitigate various risks as they arise. Whether the problem was blowouts, H2S, induced seismicity or other hazards, we have always found a way to mitigate these risks. To continue with the allusion to King Hal, the move net zero threw down yet another gauntlet. This Petro Ninja – Enlighten [Read more]
Well of the Week – Let’s play connect the dots!
A bit of a more whimsical post since we are likely all focused on the upcoming Family Day weekend. The New Golden Age of Carbonates involves the exploitation of these complex reservoirs to produce resources alternative to oil and gas. It also is an opportunity for old “no longer prospective” formations to once again take centre stage in the oil and gas industry. We will have to consider a list of Petro Ninja – Enlighten Geoscience Wells of the Week to come to grips with a very intriguing play [Read more]
Well of the Week – Lithium Rising
The world has changed. I see it in the water. I feel it in the Earth. J. R. R. Tolkien One sign we are entering a New Golden Age of Carbonates is the growing realization that this massive carbonate pore space resource can produce more than oil and gas. A case in point is the goal of extracting lithium from Devonian formation waters. This application has the potential to provide the feedstock to build the batteries which will in turn store the electricity to power the energy [Read more]
Well of the Week – The Circle Game
History never repeats itself, but it does often rhyme. (attributed to) Mark Twain. The first post in this series on the New Golden Age of Carbonates discusses how exploration is a cyclical process. Some fields, plays or even entire basins are deemed to be played out until fresh eyes, a new technical application or, more likely, a combination of the two discovers what was present in plain sight, and a new cycle of development takes place. This Petro Ninja – Enlighten Geoscience Well of [Read more]
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