--> Abstract: Canada's Petroleum Systems—an Overview, by Martin G. Fowler, Cynthia L. Riediger, and Don McAlpine; #90039 (2005)
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Canada's Petroleum Systems—an Overview

Martin G. Previous HitFowlerNext Hit1, Cynthia L. Riediger2, and Don McAlpine3
1 Geological Survey of Canada, Calgary, AB
2 University of Calgary, Calgary, AB
3 GSC-Atlantic, Dartmouth, NS

Canada is the second largest country in the world and thus it is not surprising that it contains many diverse petroleum systems ranging in age from Cambrian to Tertiary. Petroleum has been exploited for almost two hundred years, from utilisation of oil seeps to the first commercial well in North America at Oil Springs, Ontario in 1858, to the major discoveries in Western Canada in the middle of the twentieth century and the present day offshore industry. In 2001, Canada was the world's third largest natural gas producer and eleventh largest oil producer. Historically, the bulk of Canadian hydrocarbon production has been from the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin (WCSB) and this basin is also thought to contain the majority of future reserves. These include unconventional resources such as coalbed methane, shale gas and the vast tar sands. The WCSB contains a thick succession of passive margin to foreland basin rocks, characterised by abundant source rocks and long distance Previous HitmigrationTop. It contains six major and several minor petroleum systems ranging in age from Devonian to Upper Cretaceous. Other mature basins with respect to exploration are the Williston and Eastern Canada cratonic basins which contain primarily Paleozoic source rocks. Petroleum systems of mostly Mesozoic to Tertiary age occur in Canada's frontier regions including the Atlantic and Pacific offshore, Arctic Islands, and Mackenzie Delta, with many of these poorly defined at present.

This presentation will provide an overview of Canada's petroleum systems, and serve as an introduction to the rest of the session.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90039©2005 AAPG Calgary, Alberta, June 16-19, 2005