Neil Watson

Last week we discussed the importance of recognizing regional unconformities, correlating offshore sequences to predict where these will culminate in reservoir facies, and the interplay between the two. This week the Petro Ninja – Enlighten Geoscience Well of the Week will focus on a singular sedimentary feature of the Doig formation that was the subject of much study from 1989 through 2011. Agreement was reached early on in the debate to refer to these features with the (somewhat ponderous) [Read more]

Now, if you were expecting me to follow up a post on the Belloy with one on the Montney, you will be disappointed. But it is not like there is a shortage of words dissecting the Montney these days, so I have leapfrogged over that part of the Peace River Arch stratigraphic column. This Petro Ninja – Enlighten Geoscience Well of the Week will focus on the Doig, a formation that is fascinating in its own right. The first example of this allure is how the Doig can be a case study for [Read more]

Is there a formation in the WCSB less understood than the Belloy? With all of the research in the basin, why have so few papers focused on the Permian? The histogram shown below highlights papers found through a search of sources including The Atlas and The Bulletin of Canadian Energy Geoscience that included a reference to the Belloy. Since 1949 there have only been 47 in total. Of these articles, only half discussed the Belloy in any more than peripheral terms. Only 12 delved into the [Read more]

Well of the Week – Wells that make you go “Hmm……” No. III The Canadian oil and gas industry has been beset by numerous challenges over the last decade:  low commodity prices, restricted access to markets, and, most recently, unrealistic expectations about phasing out oil and gas. It has been a long tack against strong headwinds that are only now starting to abate. Several authors have commented on these obstacles. Some have taken to tilting at windmills, seeing monsters on every horizon. If I [Read more]

Perhaps last week’s  Petro Ninja – Enlighten Geoscience Well of the Week gave the impression that the Kiskatinaw was solely a high-risk/high-reward play. Well, I apologize if  I painted that picture, because that is only partially true.  A different style of play was exploited east of the big structural plays. The same understanding of the tectonically controlled sedimentation patterns in the Stoddart Group allowed for the identification of gas pools updip of the Dunvegan Debolt Gas field [Read more]

This Petro Ninja – Enlighten Geoscience Well of the Week serves as examples of both fascinating geology and the reason for the swing to resource plays. The collapse of the Peace River Arch (PRA), which began soon after the Devonian and continued intermittently throughout the Mississippian, really got going towards the end of the Paleozoic. This process was elegantly laid out in the landmark paper by Barclay et al. (1990); Dynamic casting and growth faulting: Dawson Creek Graben Complex, [Read more]

Every development needs an anchor whether it is in real estate or oil and gas. A mall requires a lead tenant, and an oil and gas region with a wealth of resources still requires a major discovery to really kick it into the big leagues. Investors need a reason to invest in the facilities to allow substantial but smaller plays to be plumbed in. And that is why the Dunvegan Debolt is a gas field that deserves to be remembered. This Petro Ninja – Enlighten Geoscience Well of the Week pays homage [Read more]

A somewhat belated Happy New Year! Welcome to the first Petro Ninja – Enlighten Geoscience Well of the Week for 2022. The holiday break between articles was a little longer than I originally intended, but (as I would always tell my profs) I hope you will agree it was worth the wait. All the snow shoveling, wood chopping, trying to stay warm and outdoor activities gave me a chance to cogitate on a few themes in the oil and gas industry and see some possible connections. The result is this [Read more]

This Petro Ninja – Enlighten Geoscience Well of the Week describes a possible sleeping giant before modern geological thinking and technology opened it up.  This formation has some intriguing and highly productive wells drilled into singularly unique and isolated reservoirs.  It ranges from over 300m thickness over parts of the Peace River Arch thinning to its subcrop.  This formation, at first glance, seems to be petrophysically monotonous and of poor quality.  It was just a thick pile of rock [Read more]