LIARD BASIN – MIDDLE DEVONIAN EXPLORATION

The Liard Basin is a sub-basin of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin (WCSB) system, straddling the Northwest and Yukon Territories boundary with the Province of British Columbia. The basin contains over 5 km of sedimentary strata of Cambrian through Upper Cretaceous age. Exploration for Manetoe Do...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Warren Walsh, Osman Salad Hersi, Mark Hayes
Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
Format: Text
Language:English
Subjects:
Online Access:http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.494.6629
http://www.empr.gov.bc.ca/OG/oilandgas/petroleumgeology/ConventionalOilAndGas/Documents/Walsh_et_al.pdf
Description
Summary:The Liard Basin is a sub-basin of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin (WCSB) system, straddling the Northwest and Yukon Territories boundary with the Province of British Columbia. The basin contains over 5 km of sedimentary strata of Cambrian through Upper Cretaceous age. Exploration for Manetoe Dolomite reservoirs hosted within middle Devonian carbonates of the Dunedin and Nahanni formations began in the 1950’s. Several pools have been found within the fold and thrust belt both in Northeastern British Columbia and the Yukon and Northwest Territories. Recent gas discoveries within the Devonian Nahanni Formation north of Fort Liard, NWT has renewed interest in this play. Resource assessments for the middle Devonian play in the Liard Basin estimates between 2.8 and 6.6 Tcf undiscovered gas, with approximately 2.5 Tcf estimated to be located within Northeastern British Columbia. The British Columbia Ministry of Energy and Mines (BC MEM) is currently working with the University of Regina and the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) to expand our knowledge and understanding of the Liard Basin. Through a contribution agreement, the BC MEM, in conjunction with Dr. Osman Salad Hersi of the University of Regina, is supporting graduate level studies on the sedimentology, stratigraphy and diagenesis of Middle Devonian, shallow-marine carbonates of the Dunedin Formation of subsurface Liard Basin, with application to petroleum exploration. The BC MEM also continues their relationship with the GSC, who has recently published a reinterpretation of the Bovie Structure which included the identification of new conceptual plays within the Liard Basin.