Abstract

Subsurface exploration in Northeastern British Columbia, although first commenced in the early 1920’s, did not reach any level of significance until the early 7950’s, after the discovery of oil at Leduc in Alberta. Access into the area was one of the main deterrents in these early years. After the upsurge of exploratory activity began, it was still largely confined to the areas offsetting the two main roads, the Alaska Highway and the Beatton River Road. The spread of exploratory activity away from these roads occurred mostly in the Plains area as the rugged terrain of the Foothills made access even more difficult. Exploration can be subdivided into two main divisions based on terrain and subsurface conditions, the Foothills and the Plains.

In this paper, the sedimentary section with hydrocarbon potential has been arbitrarily confined to the Silurian and younger sediments. These sediments have been subdivided into twelve units that, in a broad sense, represent exploratory groups.

The sedimentary volume of significant basin fill amounts to approximately 117,000 cubic miles with an areal coverage of some 51,000 square miles. This gives an average thickness of approximately 12,000 feet over the area examined.

The majority of the presently known hydrocarbon reserves are confined to the Triassic and the Devonian Systems. Two formations in the Triassic System, the Charlie Lake and the Halfway, contain more than 90 per cent of the proven oil reserves while the Triassic Baldonnel Formation and the Devonian Slave Point Formation, Elk Point Group and the Stone Formation contain approximately 72 per cent of the gas.

The ultimate potential of this area as forecast in this paper is based on the present reserves of the area, the density of drilling, the quality of the reservoirs and the writer’s personal judgment. Ultimate reserves of 1.3 billion barrels of oil and 58 trillion cubic feet of gas are forecast as being present in this area. The presently proven reserves represent 36.9 per cent of the oil and 18.2 per cent of the gas that could be found.