Canada's Discovered Oil and Gas Resources North of 60

Kenneth J. Drummond
Drummond Consulting, Calgary, AB

The total discovered recoverable oil and gas resources for Canada north of 60 degrees are 1,665 million barrels of oil and 31,450 Billion cubic feet of natural gas. Initial recoverable resources by territory are, Northwest Territories – 1,330 MMB oil and 15,128 Bcf gas, Nunavut – 323 MMB oil and 15,963 Bcf gas, and the Yukon – 12 MMB oil and 359 Bcf gas.

In Northern Canada 45 fields have discovered oil with original recoverable reserves of 1,665 MMB, of which 222 MMB has been produced to December 31, 2003. There are 84 fields with initial recoverable gas of 31,450 Bcf, of which only 667 Bcf has been produced to December 31, 2003. There are 100 discovered fields, 29 oil and gas, 16 only oil and 55 only gas. The 29 fields with oil and gas contain 1,059 MMB of recoverable oil and 11,349 Bcf of recoverable gas. The 16 oil fields have 606 MMB and the gas only fields have 20,100 Bcf of gas.

Fields with oil production include Norman Wells, discovered in 1920, Bent Horn (1974), Amauligak (1983) and Cameron Hills (2003). Gas fields with production include Beaver River, Pointed Mountain, Kotaneelee, Liard K-29, Liard P-66, Ft. Liard F-36, SE Ft Liard N-01, Cameron Hills, and Ikhil.

The largest discovered oil resource is the 1 billion barrels in the Beaufort/Mackenzie. Largest discovered recoverable gas resource is in the Sverdrup Basin with 17.4 Tcf, followed by the Beaufort/Mackenzie with 9.7 Tcf.

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