Bellshill Lake Field, Alberta: GEOLOGICAL NOTES

Abstract

One of the most disappointing strata in Alberta9s history of oil exploration has been the Basal Quartz sand of Blairmore (Lower Cretaceous) age. To date, production from this section has been of very minor importance, most of the small fields found being characterized by extreme lenticularity of sand and consequent very poor production histories. The recently discovered Bellshill Lake field, however, is a marked exception to past results in the Basal Quartz. It is a good field and the forerunner of similar accumulations to be found in the future. The Bellshill Lake field is in T. 41, R . 12, W. 4th Mer., about 140 mi. NE of Calgary, about 90 mi. SE of Edmonton, and 11 mi. NE of the town of Alliance. The discovery well is Richfield McLennan No. 6-32, drilled by Richfield Oil Corporation, which was completed in Sept. 1955, with a gross pay thickness of 37 ft. in the Basal Quartz sand of Lower Cretaceous age. As of Oct. 31, 1958, there were 78 oil wells in the field on 40-acre spacing, and probably an additional 12 locations yet to be drilled, giving a probable areal extent of 3,600 acres. The average depth of field wells is about 3,100 ft. To Oct. 31, 1958, the field had produced 1,431,810 barrels of 27 degrees -28 degrees API gravity oil with an average GOR of 259 and 415,237 barrels of water. The field is connected by Gibson Pipeline to the Interprovincial Pipeline at Hardisty, a distance of 16 mi.