Northwest
Territories, Canada
McKenzie Corridor
Now
available in Portable Document Format (pdf) for your convenience
Defining
the timing and magnitude of paleo-thermal events controlling maturation
histories and structural development
Geotrack -
Alconsult non-exclusive THR studies
GEOTRACK’S
THR STUDIES IN THE NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
INTRODUCTION
The concept of a petroleum system is only helpful if
the variables or parameters used in the concept are known or constrained
within known limits. Much time and effort is wasted in industry by developing
“sophisticated” basin models that are fundamentally flawed
due to errors in the thermal history of the basin sediments –
i.e., time of maximum burial, time of generation, magnitude of heating.
Geotrack International has worked over the last 15 years developing
techniques and approaches that allow direct constraints on the thermal
history of a sedimentary section for the purposes of finding oil and
gas.
- In the Central McKenzie
Valley of the Northwest Territories, the timing of key events and
their relative impact on the structural history and generation history
is widely acknowledged as associated with high risk, principally because
of its uncertainty.
Why not remove this
uncertainty? While it is common practice to assume these parameters
as part of software-driven basin modelling work or structural
reconstructions, Geotrack has pioneered efforts worldwide to measure
these critical parameters directly. In the NWT, any models describing
the petroleum system will be severely impaired if critical parameters
such as the timing of heating events are inferred rather than
controlled by direct measurement. |
|
SPECIFIC
RELEVANCE TO THE NWT A fundamental issue concerning
prospectivity in the region is the timing of active hydrocarbon generation
from potential Devonian and Cambrian source rocks in the region. As
an example - previous work in the region around Parcels 1 and 2 has
suggested that the Devonian section reached peak maturity after Cretaceous
time – i.e., in this case, there would be no break in the downhole
maturity trend at the sub-Cretaceous unconformity. Our new integrated
AFTA and VR results clearly shows this model is incorrect, and was likely
to have been constructed by falsely attributing caved Cretaceous organic
matter to an in-situ Devonian population. The new mini-well series also
provides previously unavailable and direct control on the timing and
magnitude of maturation levels of potential Cretaceous source rocks
in the region. Such data and conclusions are essential for targeting
commercial discoveries.
SCOPE
AND COST OF FURTHER WORK On the map above, we
show the location of the study wells. Each of the indicated wells have
been studied using our thermal history approach and reports are available
immediately. A study involving the 16 outcrop samples (shown as solid
squares) is also available. We welcome suggestions for any new wells
in the region, and would be pleased to make specific recommendations
on target horizons for sampling. Please contact us to obtain the current
pricing for each study. Alconsult International (Calgary) has assisted
us on this project, and retains copies of all reports from the current
mini-well series at their office to facilitate further discussion. We
would be happy to answer any of your questions or work with you in devising
a longer-term strategy to better understand the nature and influence
of the thermal and uplift history of the region in relation to the petroleum
system(s) in the region.
For further information
Geotrack
International
Ian R. Duddy
37 Melville Rd
Brunswick West, VIC 3055
Australia
phone: +61-3-7065-6463
e-mail |
Alconsult
International
Lee Slind, Fred Calverley, Fred Rayer
Calgary, Alberta
phone: +1-403-262-5886
fax: +1-403-262-3544
e-mail: alconsult@nucleus.com |