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Geo-Help Inc |
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The Geology link for the Canadian Oil and Gas Industry - providing Geological Expertise and Information Services. |
Dry and Abandoned - a storage place for discarded trivia and worn out jokes.
The new name for Coalbed Methane in Canada is Natural Gas from Coal (NGC)
THE GEOLOGIST AND THE ENGINEER
A man floating along in a hot air balloon began to realise he was lost. He reduced his altitude
and spotted a woman below. He descended a little more and shouted, "Excuse me, can you
help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don't know where I am".
The woman below replied, "You are in a hot air balloon hovering approximately 30 feet above a
late Cambrian volcaniclastic sedimentary sequence, 2.7 kilometres west of the Henty River near one
of the major fault structures in the region."
"You must be a geologist", said the balloonist.
"I am." replied the woman, "How did you know?"
"Well", answered the balloonist, "everything you told me is technically correct, but I have no idea
what to make of your information, and the fact is I am still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help so far".
The woman below responded,"You must be an engineer".
"I am," replied the balloonist,"but how did you know?"
"Well," said the woman, "you don't know where you are or where you are going. You
have risen to where you are through a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise to
someone that you have no idea how to keep, and you expect me to solve your problem,
but you really aren't interested in the information I'm providing. The fact is you are in exactly the
same situation you were before we met, but now, somehow, it's my fault".
Approximately 3% of Canadian Natural gas comes from Eastern Canada (Sable Island).
Paramount Energy Trust is the company most impacted by the shut-in of gas to protect future bitumen production in NE Alberta.
Geologists are amazing. They know hundreds of words for different sorts of dirt and hundreds of words for things it does when left alone for a few million years.
You Might Be a Geologist If ...
You own more pieces of quartz than underwear.
Your rock collection weighs more than you do.
Your rock garden is located inside your house
You can pronounce the word "molybdenite" correctly on the first try.
You don't think of "cleavage" the same way everyone else does.
You have ever uttered the phrase "have you tried licking it" with no sexual connotations involved
You think the primary function of road cuts is tourist attractions.
You find yourself compelled to examine individual rocks in driveway gravel.
You're planning on using a pick and shovel while you're on vacation.
Your internet home page has pictures of your rocks.
You will walk across eight lanes of freeway traffic to see if the outcrop on the other side of the highway is the same type of rock as the side you're parked on.
The baggage handlers at the airport know you by name and refuse to help with your luggage.
You have ever found yourself trying to explain to airport security that a rock hammer isn't really a weapon .
You have ever taken a 22-passenger van over "roads" that were really intended only for cattle
You consider a "recent event" to be anything that has happened in the last hundred thousand years
You have ever had to respond "yes" to the question, "What have you got in here, rocks?"
A record $646.7 Million was spent at BC land sales for oil and gas rights in 2003
NI 51-101 from the Canadian Securities Administrators sets the new rules for reporting oil and gas reserves in Canada.
Encana is pursuing a Cadomin play in NEBC - They spent >$400MM to acquire the land in 2003.
Reminds me of a song:
If you found a plant fossil on top of a layer of coal - would it be "Leaving on a Jet Plane"? (Sorry - perhaps you should send me some better jokes!)
The 'Shackleton' play in Saskatchewan is a shallow gas play primarily targeting the Milk River Formation.
Irving Oil and Northeast Energy Inc have announced plans for LNG terminals on the East Coast of Canada.
Approximately 250Mmcf/d from 938 wells may be shut-in on 1st September 2003 as a result of the AEUB ruling on production of gas overlying the Athabasca tarsands. (The final decision saw 337 wells - 41% of production shut-in, all the other wells received exemptions. - Oct 2 2003)
CNRL, Husky and Talisman are the only companies that show up in both the 1997 and 2002 top 15 exploration companies.
No Coalbed methane gas was booked in Canada to the end of 2001. Reports for the end of 2002 identified CBM as a resource but do not estimate reserves.
Which year is the MacKenzie Pipeline due to start delivering gas? - Fred Green of Burnaby tells me 2009 which is probably as good a guess as any.
Canada does not specifically define "tight gas" and "unconventional gas" so it is impossible to differentiate between tight and conventional gas reserves. In the US, special incentives were introduced in the 1980's to encourage production from these resources which has enabled them to be tracked separately.
Food for thought: The Western Inter-University Geological Conference in 2002 was held at the Fantasyland Hotel in Edmonton.
26% of US natural gas production apparently comes from 'unconventional' sources - including tight gas and Coalbed Methane (Approximately 7% of US gas production currently comes from Coalbed Methane).
Coalbed Methane production is still in its infancy in Canada, current production is probably less than 5mmcf/d - about 0.025% of Canada's production
The Kyoto Agreement would require a 30% reduction in current carbon dioxide emissions in Canada
9165 gas wells were drilled in Alberta in 2001
The average annual decline rate for new gas wells in Alberta in 1999 was 34%
The average annual decline rate for all gas wells in Western Canada is approximately 23%
Canada is the third largest gas producer in the World, BUT it is only 18th in gas reserves!
There are 5 Swan Hills gas pools with greater than 1 Tcf of GIP (Kaybob South, Caroline,, Hanlan, Blackstone and Swan Hills)
Clarke Lake (2.2Tcf GIP) is the only Slave Point gas pool currently believed to be larger than Ladyfern.
2001 marked the first year that the production of Bitumen exceeded the production of conventional crude oil in Alberta.
The Malik gas hydrate testing in the Mckenzie Delta will remain confidential for 2 years - until about March 2004
EnCana - the new Company formed by the merger of AEC and PCP recently announced their daily production for the first quarter as 700,846 BOE/D (gas converted at 6:1). - Making it one of the largest independent oil companies in the world.
"The Map that changed the World" was created by Wiliam Smith in 1815, it shows the "hidden underside" of England and is regarded as the first geological map. Simon Winchester's book by the same name should be on every geologist's reading list. Congratulations to 'djready' who was the first with the correct answer.
The Alberta Government assumed average prices of $20 US for WTI oil and $3.50 Cdn/mcf over the next 3 years in their March 2001 budget projections.
3692 Exploratory wells were reportedly drilled in Alberta in 2001 - the highest number ever - this includes NFW, NPW, DPT and OUT
Owen Neale reports that EUB data for 2001 shows an amazing 83.7% 'success' for Exploration wells drilled in Alberta. Raises the questions what are exploration wells and what is 'success'?
The Alberta Government no longer defines specific distances from existing production for the designation of exploration wells - this is probably a big contributor to discrepancies in comparing recent and historic data
Terra Nova was discovered in 1984 - production started 18 years late - 1 year quicker than Hibernia
FPSO stands for "Floating Production Storage and Off-loading" - it is the type of facility being used to produce oil from the Terra Nova Field off Newfoundland
Alberta has an estimated 34 gigatonnes (billion tonnes) of recoverable coal (36% of the estimated in-place resources). (EUB Statistical Series 2000-31).
Alberta has produced an estimated 1075 mega (million) tonnes of coal. (EUB Statistical Series 2000-31).
Did the geologists go by mountain bike to study cyclic sedimentation?
Alberta's tar sands have an estimated 259 billion cubic metres of crude bitumen (1.631 trillion barrels). 28 billion cubic metres (178 million barrels) are regarded as established reserves.
By the end of 2000, 0.52 Billion cubic metres (3.3 billion barrels) of oil had been produced from the tar sands - about 0.2% of the total resource!
Approximately 40% (245 Million barrels, 39 Million m3) of Alberta's oil production came from oil sands in 2000
Helpful tip!? - cheapest gas on the planet: According to Bob Bain, you can fill your gas tank at the Jordan-Iraq border crossing for 10cents total - not sure whether that's Cdn or US! (CSPG International Division Talk Feb 20th 2001)
The three largest Natural Gas Producing Countries in the World are: USA (556 BCM, 1999 total production), Russia (545 BCM) and Canada (168 BCM). Source: BP
Do sheep lick ba-salt?
In Alberta, drilling replaced only 90% of production in the year 2000 - despite record numbers of gas wells. New drilling has not fully replaced production since 1982.
Hudson's Bay Oil and Gas (HBOG) was owned by Conoco before they were bought by Dome Petroleum in the early 1980's
Congratulations to Bob Dawson of Canadian Discovery Digest who knew that Exxon-Mobil had recently drilled the Bandol #1 in the "French Baguette" - a N-S strip of mineral rights owned by St Pierre-Miquelon off the East Coast of Canada (the well was dry).
The largest Royalty Trust is currently Pengrowth Energy with a value of $1.6 Billion. The recently announced merger of Enermark and Enerplus will create a Royalty Trust worth about $2.0 Billion. (data as of May 2001)
Food for thought: A recent study commissioned by APEGGA indicates that approximately 62% of Geoscientists in Alberta are over 40 and only 11% are under 30. (Source: The PEGG Sept 2000)
Ladyfern (100km NE of Fort St John, NEBC) is producing from Slave Point reefs. Murphy and AEC have reported significant high productivities (up to 100mmcf/d) for wells drilled in the area over the past two winters. (CNRL is also rumoured to have a discovery in the area, May 2001).
Talisman has the highest daily oil and gas production for any Canadian oil company at 409,000 BOED. (Talisman 2000 Annual Report)
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The North Slope of Alaska is estimated to have resources of about 100Tcf and the McKenzie Delta 64Tcf . |
The year-end 1990 R/P (reserve divided by production) for natural gas in Alberta was 18 declining to 8.5 by year end 1999 - a combination of increased production and reduced reserve additions. - Rob Woronuk comments this number is very sensitive to the numerator which currently includes unconnected gas and gas that is no longer producing. He believes a meaningful R/P may be lower than this.
The USGS ranks the 'Alberta Basin' 20th in the World in terms of total discovered conventional petroleum reserves.
According to the USGS,only 3.3% of the World's undiscovered conventional gas is in North America - a disturbing figure!
Congratulations to Mark Dumka who knew that 34.5% of the world's undiscovered gas is expected to come from the Former Soviet Union. - That Alaska pipeline may get a lot longer!
Syncrude's operating costs for 2000 were $17.45/bbl compared to $12.64/bbl in 1999.
Alberta produced 35 million cubic metres of crude Bitumen in 1999 (About 220 million barrels)
Alberta produced 45 million cubic metres of conventional crude oil in 1999 (About 283 million barrels)
Alberta produced 142 billion cubic metres of natural gas in 1999 (About 5 Tcf)
Hibernia took 18 years from discovery to first production (1979 to 1997).
Canadian 88's recent (August 2000) Swan Hills gas well at Caroline is reported to be 50% Sour .
The longest horizontal reach for a well is 4.99 Miles (8030 metres) drilled by BP in 1995 at Wytch Farm on the south coast of England.
The record Td for a horizontal well in Canada is Shell's well at Carbondale 13-6-6-2W5 at 5534m. The greatest difference between Td and Tvd is 1622m at 3-23-32-1W5 drilled by Cdn 88 at Garrington.
Might a bed of black lignite be a "Jet Plane"?
The Deepest well in Western Canada was drilled by Shell at Panther River (9-9-30-10W5M). It reached a TVD of 6031.3m (19789 ft).
In spite of drilling a record number of gas wells in 1998, Alberta only replaced 70% of it's gas production.
Pan Canadian is the only Company to make the top ten list of exploratory drillers in 1973 and 2000.
Medicine Hat 'A' Pool is the largest gas pool in Alberta covering 541,112 Ha (1.3 Million Acres).
Q: Can you put the following Countries in order of highest annual, per capita, oil production: Algeria,Canada, Columbia, Egypt, Kuwait, Norway, Saudi Arabia, UK, USA and Venezuela?
A: Highest per capita production: Kuwait (302bbls), Norway (176), Saudi (126), Venezuela (40), Canada (18), UK (13), USA (8), Algeria (7), Egypt (4), Columbia (4).
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Q. How many Geologists does it take to change a light bulb? |
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A. None - Real Geologists shed their own light on the earth! |
For Fun: Which field has produced the most oil - Swan Hills, Leduc or Pembina Cardium?
Answer: Leduc has produced 384 Million barrels, Swan Hills 805 Million barrels, while the Pembina Cardium has produced a whopping 1170 million barrels!
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Q. Which Alberta City has "all hell" for a basement? To whom is the quote attributed? |
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A. Medicine Hat according to Rudyard Kipling for the massive shallow gas field that underlies the City. |
Q. Name the top three gas fields in Alberta with highest remaining Sulphur reserves.
A. Caroline - Swan Hills 16.4 Million Tonnes (Gas 37% Hydrogen Sulphide), Waterton (Miss-Wab) 3.45 Million Tonnes (19.5%) and Caroline (Leduc) 3.42 Million Tonnes (71%).
The Largest gas pool in the Canadian Rockies is the Waterton Wabamun-Rundle 'A' with over 2.8Tcf of gas in place.
For Fun: McColl-Frontenac, Royalite and Stanolind - Where are they now?
Congratulations to Harry Klassen who knew that McColl-Frontenac became Imperial (via Texaco Canada), Royalite became Gulf Canada and Stanolind is now BP Amoco. The benefits of experience!
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Q. Why did the Geologist cross the road? A. To get better Options. |
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Q. Why did the musically inclined geologists call themselves "Sill"? |
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A. They wanted to become a prominent rock band. |
Couldn't get a definitive answer to the question of the highest ($/Ha) Land Price paid at an Alberta Crown Land Sale. John Howarth thought it was about $57500 per/Ha for a parcel in Brazeau paid by Amoco and others at the height of the D-2 pinnacle play (c.1978). Anybody else got a longer memory?
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Q. Why was the copper mine promoter happy and sad? |
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A. He developed gangue green! - (Sorry you need to send me some better jokes!) |
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Q. Why is the Joli Fou so named? |
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A. (The Joli Fou is a shale in the Colorado Group). It is named after the Joli Fou Rapids on the Athabasca River. J.W. Tyrell (1897) noted it was named the "Rapids of the Jolly Fool" after an unskilled canoeman lost his life navigating them. (Thanks to Harry Klassen for the info) |
How many dry holes did Imperial drill before discovering Leduc?
Imperial drilled an amazing 133 dry holes over 14 years before drilling Imperial Leduc #1. A remarkable example of perseverance!
Order of discovery of reef plays in Alberta: Leduc (D-3), Swan Hills (Swan Hills), Rainbow (Keg River), Brazeau (D-2). You can check the dates on Geo-Help's "History of the Canadian Oil Industry" - hit the button on the home page.
Is a Fluvial Sedimentologist an Alluvial Fan?
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Put the following Mannville Units in order - youngest to oldest: Sparky, McLaren, Dina, Waseca, Colony, Cummings, Rex. Answer - Mannville Heavy Oil Stratigraphy (youngest to oldest): Colony, McLaren, Waseca, Sparky, (General Petroleums), Rex, (Lloydminster), Cummings, Dina. |
The largest gas pool in Alberta by GIP is Kaybob South BHL A with 3.6 Tcf - only 1.2 Tcf Marketable. The Medicine Hat 'A' Pool has 2.6 Tcf in place with 1.8 Tcf Marketable.
The Mannville Group has the highest volume of remaining reserves in Alberta, however they are in a lot of small pools!
According to the Canadian Gas Potential Committee (1997 report), 38% of the undiscovered gas potential in the WCSB is in the Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous interval.
Deep water drilling - BHP Walker Ridge Block 425 in the Gulf of Mexico was drilled in 8,835' of water - a world record at that time (late 2000).
Where does the money go? At 65.7c per litre for gasoline in Alberta
23.3c. Taxes - (10c Federal Excise
Tax, 9c Avg Provincial Tax, 4.3c GST)
(Source: M.J.Ervin & Assoc Mar 28 2000)
Winners at the booth (Geo-Canada2000) were:
Glynn Wright (Mobil) who won a million (grains of sand) and 1 years free access to the web site for his success in the "Who wants to be a Petroleum Geologist" Game. Paul Piovoso (Gulf) and Richard Hawes (Temeraire Petroleum Corp) and Tom Ruissen (Baytex) each won in the business card draw.