The Creation… Formed hundreds of millions of years ago When Canada was covered by shallow seas,

remains of marine animals fell to sea floor Accumulated into thick layers (over the years…) Over time, the immense weight compacted

these layers into rock Bacterial action, heat, and pressure converted

marine animals into oil and gas….Simple right?

The traps…

You will notice that all 3 have a nonporous rock cap and a porous rock source.  The porous rock allows the oil to seep into the cavity (like a sponge) and the nonporous rock prevents the oil from leaving (like a cap).

Fold TrapThe up fold or anticline in the layers of the

earth's crust form the reservoir.

Fault TrapThe vertical movement of the earth's crust

forms a v-shaped reservoir.

Stratigraphic TrapHas a former limestone reef as its porous rock feeding the reservoir.

The Searching…Finding oil in amounts that will make

recovery worth-while is a challengeGeologists must look at special geologic

structures that have trapped oilDifficult because deposits may be 100’s of

meters underground (if exist at all!!)

The Tricks…Geologists have many tricks to search for oil…1. Looking for rocks on the surface that contain

oil2. Searching for clues (fossils) in the rocks that

would indicate the “right conditions” for formation

3. Using geological records obtained by drill cores

4. Conducting seismic surveys to locate oil rock structures

5. Sniffing the ground (bad idea)

The Drilling…

Expensive! And will have one of 3 results:1. No oil – abandoned2. Oil is found – amount not enough to

make profitable (plugged until later date)3. Oil is found – Deposit is large enough to

develop

Drills

The Recovery…

The removal of oil and gas from the ground proceeds in one or two ways:

1. Flowing Wells – natural pressure sufficient to bring oil to surface

2. Non-Flowing Wells – electric pumps must be used to bring oil to surface

*only about 60 % of oil in most deposits can be recovered. Increasing that by 5% would the same as finding another large oil field

The Sources in Canada…

Production concentrated in Alberta and adjoining provinces: Saskatchewan/BC

Alberta Oil SandsMined from huge deposits in NE AlbertaBitumen: is found around individual sand

particlesOil sand is easily dug up and then

separated Bitumen is processed to make crude oilCost is very high, but with decrease of

conventional oil will be a huge source of income for Canada in near future

The Other Sources…

Newfoundland and Labrador became significant producers in 1997 with opening of Hibernia offshore oil project. Production will increase as additional projects are developed.

Manitoba Oil?

At What Cost?http://www.ifitweremyhome.com/

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