Petroleum

Abstract Petroleum has been discovered in commercial quantities in two major sedimentary basins of the Western Interior: Western Canada Basin and Beaufort-Mackenzie Basin. Western Canada Basin comprises the Phanerozoic sedimentary wedge lying between the Canadian Shield and the Cordillera; it includes the thrust-faulted rocks of the Foothills Belt but not the Rocky, Mackenzie, and Ogilvie mountains. This vast basin extends from the 49th parallel northward beyond the Arctic Circle (Fig. 6 A.1). Western Canada Basin is divided into the following regions: Alberta Basin, Williston Basin, Foothills Belt, and Northern Basins. Beaufort-Mackenzie Basin straddles the Arctic coastline north of Western Canada Basin; a summary description is given in this subchapter but its geology and economic potential are described more fully in the companion volume on the Arctic Region (Grantz et al., 1990). The distribution of oil and natural gas in western Canada south of latitude 60°N is shown on two pocket figures (Maps 1558A, 1559A), which may be used to locate fields referred to in the text. The maps are coloured to show the geological age of the reservoirs. Marginal notes contain statistical data on the largest pools, including Initial Volume In Place (IVIP), initial recoverable oil (Initial Established Reserves (IER)), pool area, net pay, porosity, and discovery year. Pie diagrams show the initial volume and the initial reserves, and the initial reserves by age of reservoir (see also Fig. 6 A.2, 6A.3). For current statistical data on reserves and production for individual fields, the annual summaries published by the provincial regulatory