Onshore Exploration

Onshore Exploration1 2

The Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin has seen a surge in activity, particularly development of vast oil sands resources and the remote northern frontiers. The oil sands are concentrated in northeast Alberta. Most northern programs are in the Mackenzie Delta and in the southern portion of the Northwest Territories.

In the four Atlantic provinces, onshore exploration and development is underway for conventional oil, gas and coalbed methane. For example, work in Nova Scotia during 2007 involved two seismic programs, several drilling programs and the testing of existing coalbed methane wells. Future work includes exploration agreements that cover 1.2 million hectares of land, with work commitments in excess of $10 million over the next two to three years.

Canadians have developed technologies to improve the effectiveness and reduce the exploration costs in difficult environments:

  • Visualization rooms are used by companies to aggregate and integrate data in order to present a composite interpretation. The use of 3-D electronic glasses allows Canadian engineers and geologists to more efficiently isolate and study pay zones and to identify bypassed pay opportunities. The system creates one digital image using seismic data and data from maps, cores and well performance.
  • Anisotropic depth migration is used in foothills areas to more accurately determine geological structures and drilling locations. Geophysical operations in foothills areas are a special challenge due to the geology, especially the very steep dipping beds.
  • Software systems that manage international data have revolutionized data management within Canada's oil and gas industry. These systems allow map-based access to data sets, computerized logs and project applications.
  • Smaller and faster processing technologies are being used, such as graphics processing unit (GPU) accelerator technology, which brings super-computing speed to the desktop by leveraging the massive parallel processing capacity.
  • Advanced geophysical workstations have been developed to improve seismic interpretation. These integrated stations have a real-time mapping capability so that users do not have to import or export data.
  • A seismic wave generator has been developed that emits stronger waves and permits more detailed interpretation. The weight drop machine is equipped with an array of lights and an onboard global positioning system, and is capable of working 24 hours a day. This is an important feature in Northern Canada where in muskeg-covered areas, seismic must be shot when muskeg is frozen.