Print this pageRevisiting a Mature Play: An Assessment of Hydrocarbon Potential in the Northeastern Williston Basin
Steve G. Whittaker1, Andre L. Costa1, Kim L.
Kreis1, Carol D. Martiniuk2, Ruth K. Bezys3,
and Michelle P.B. Nicolas2
1 Saskatchewan Industry and Resources, Regina, SK
2 Manitoba Industry, Economic Development and Mines, Winnipeg
3
Manitoba Geological Survey, Winnipeg, MB
An assessment of the distribution of hydrocarbons in strata from Cambrian to Cretaceous age across a wide geographic area in the northeastern Williston Basin is being performed as part of an integrated geoscience program. The Williston Basin Architecture and Hydrocarbon Potential project involves Saskatchewan Industry and Resources, Manitoba Industry, Economic Development and Mines, Natural Resources Canada and the universities of Alberta and Saskatchewan in developing an integrated geological picture of the Phanerozoic subsurface in eastern Saskatchewan and western Manitoba. The known hydrocarbon occurrences in this portion of the basin are being mapped according to their stratigraphic and spatial distribution, and where genetic relationships are known this information is used to link associated oils to possibly delineate hydrocarbon migration pathways and identify apparently isolated occurrences. The hydrocarbon distribution is being related to processes associated with basin evolution such as subsidence, salt dissolution, and erosion, the timing and extent of which are also determined through the integrated geoscience investigations performed in this project. Source rock potential will also be assessed for selected stratigraphic intervals. This information will serve as the basis for future more in-depth petroleum system analyses and basin modeling. Although additional resources and new plays continue to drive exploration in the Williston Basin, traditional targets are becoming more elusive. It is anticipated that better understanding of the controls over hydrocarbon distributions provided by regional, integrated studies linking structural, stratigraphic, hydrogeological and geochemical data will lead to more effective exploration strategies.
AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90039©2005 AAPG Calgary, Alberta, June 16-19, 2005