Offshore Geology and Petroleum Potential of Eastern Canada

Abstract

The continental margin of eastern Canada is underlain by a series of Mesozoic-Cenozoic sedimentary basins that have been targets of active hydrocarbon exploration for over two decades. Data from approximately 170 released exploratory wells and about 600 000 km of multichannel seismic coverage have delineated three major geological/geochemical regions. On the Scotian Shelf, 18 significant (predominantly gas/condensate) discoveries have been made out of 78 wildcats drilled since 1967. Seven of these, including the Venture field, are in an overpressured zone that has been explored extensively only since 1979. The 61 wildcat wells drilled on the Grand Banks through mid- 1985 have yielded 13 significant (predominantly light oil) discoveries, including the giant Hibernia oil field. Labrador-Southeast Baffin Shelf exploration has yielded six gas/condensate discoveries in 24 wildcat wells drilled since 1971. As petroleum exploration is still at an early stage off eastern Canada these results represent an auspicious beginning.