Mackenzie Delta

Regional Geological & Geophysical Assessment of the Mackenzie Delta / Beaufort Sea Region

Summary:
Location: 68 – 70 N and 136.5 – 132 W
Strata: Devonian – Kugmallit
Year of Study: 2001

Introduction

A regional multi-disciplinary analysis of the Mackenzie Delta-southern Beaufort Sea was undertaken by Petrel Robertson Consulting Ltd in order to assess the nature of petroleum reservoirs, the controls on known hydrocarbon accumulations, and develop new play concepts and regional fairways; especially those associated with gas prospects within Mesozoic and Tertiary units.

The data and information used in the assessment were derived from evaluations of public and private materials and include the wireline logs cores and tests from over 250 wells (4400 meters of core, over 1400 tests), about 10,000 kilometers of scanned and digitized seismic data, biostratigraphic analyses of 85 wells, and geochemical data obtained from 86 wells.

The final report, comprised of a 500-page document and 4 CD set of accompanying figures, is configured so as to provide the reader with a view of petroleum, specifically natural gas, opportunities in the Mackenzie Delta-southern Beaufort Sea region that is intermediate between high level literature reviews (cf. Dixon, 1996) and site-specific prospect assessment and development.

Specific differences with previous studies worth mentioning include:

• A tops file that differs, in some wells to a significant degree, from that provided by Dixon (1990). The differences arise from a re-examination of Petrel Robertson Consulting’s (PRCL) proprietary biostratigraphic data base, the acquisition of new biostratigraphic data, and the assessment of over 10,000 kilometers of seismic data (included as an Excel file on CD#3);
• The geochemical component included herein, and the models created, are derived from a combination of proprietary geochemical data and that found in publicly-available documents;
• The hydrodynamic component provided here is new information, especially that dealing with the onshore portion of the study area and the pre-Tertiary section. It is thus more extensive than that provided by Hitchon et al. (1990);
• Digital core library with photographs for all whole diameter cores currently available (refer to CD#1, #2 and #4);
• Having access to a regional grid of seismic data (8500 km), which was used to construct the structure maps (full-sized maps available on CD#3);
• The petrographic component is new information and the samples prepared for this report (and currently on file at the GSC Calgary office) are superior to those presently available in the public domain (refer to CD #1 and #2);
• A presentation style that allows users to interactively browse through core photos, logs showing cored interval, AppleCore descriptions, and petrography.