Evaluating the Shale Gas Resource Potential in Western Canada
Ross, Daniel JK and R. Marc Bustin
University of British
Columbia, Vancouver, BC
Unconventional gas resources in Canada are estimated to be in
the order of several thousand TCF, a significant component of which
is in gas shales. Realisation of these resources requires ingenuity,
technology and comparatively high gas prices.
Through much of western Canada and parts of eastern Canada
potential gas shales exist in strata ranging from Ordovician to Late
Cretaceous in age. Although vast resources of gas undoubtedly exist
in these shales the amount of producible gas remains unknown and
currently there is no gas production specifically attributed to gas
shales in Canada. A significant component of the gas produced from
shallow tight formations in eastern Alberta and adjacent
Saskatchewan are fed from strata best defined as gas shales. In these
gas shales larger reserves in place exist than have been attributed by
use of conventional methods of reservoir analyses. If these reservoirs
are evaluated as having a gas shale component, larger reserves could
be booked and a more efficient development program with further
down spacing would be warranted. The greatest potential for gas
shale development in Canada is currently perceived to be in north
eastern British Columbia where recent Crown land prices have locally
exceeded $1000/ha. These mainly Devonian aged shales have been
many characteristics in common with the highly productive Barnett
Shale in the Fort Worth Basin.
AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90071 © 2007 AAPG Rocky Mountain Meeting, Snowbird, Utah