Spatial Estimation of Shale Gas Potential in the Triassic Doig and Montney formations, Northeastern British Columbia

Walsh, Warren¹, Ben Kerr², Chris Adams¹, Joe Korol³ (1) B.C. Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, Victoria, BC (2) BC Ministry of Energy and Mines, Victoria, BC (3) GeoKorr Consulting Inc, Calgary, AB

Identifying prospective exploration trends for a shale gas play requires the examination of factors related to gas production and the definition of physical attributes of the shale. The concentration and distribution of organic carbon within the shale, of which gas in place is a direct function, is of particular importance. The Triassic Doig and Montney formations span over seven million Ha of Northeast British Columbia (NEBC), are up to 500 metres thick and are found at depths of 400 to over 4400 metres. Both formations contain significant quantities of organic carbon, which is concentrated in phosphatic shale tens of metres thick or dispersed in low concentration in shale several hundreds of metres thick.

The focus of this study is to evaluate the shale gas potential of the Doig and Montney formations in NEBC through quantifying the potential gas in place via spatial analysis. The aim of which is to aid exploration by developing maps of gas in place that can be used to high-grade exploration efforts. Methods investigated include log derived estimates of total organic carbon (TOC), fracture intensity, applying Langmuir isotherms to regional grids and mapping the resultant estimates.