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24-Pet-B4 Well Testing · December 2015

Question 18 of 18: Sedimentary basins and arches of Canada

Nivaar worked solution (AI-drafted; not reviewed by a licensed engineer)

Notes on this paper

EGBC National Exam — Petroleum Engineering, 2015-Dec. 3 hours duration; closed book. This sitting's own cover page reads “98-Pet-B4, Petroleum Geology” and every question is descriptive/interpretive petroleum geology (source rocks, hydrocarbon chemistry, migration/unconventional reservoirs, carbonate traps, structural traps, Canadian basin geography) – no well-test pressure-transient content anywhere. Five (5) of the paper's six 20-mark sections are marked (NOTES item 5); all six are solved in full below so this set also serves as a complete study reference. The paper is almost entirely qualitative (draw/describe/define/list), with one true numeric calculation (Q3-2, capillary seal-breach column height).

Reference texts: Selley, R.C. & Sonnenberg, S., Elements of Petroleum Geology, 3rd ed., Academic Press (source rocks, migration, traps, carbonate systems); Tissot, B.P. & Welte, D.H., Petroleum Formation and Occurrence, 2nd ed., Springer (kerogen typing, maceral groups, catagenesis); Boggs, S. Jr., Petrology of Sedimentary Rocks, 2nd ed., Cambridge (source-rock and carbonate lithofacies); Allen, P.A. & Allen, J.R., Basin Analysis: Principles and Applications to Petroleum Play Assessment, 3rd ed., Wiley-Blackwell (structural styles, unconventional systems); Biddle, K.T. & Wielchowsky, C.C., “Trap Types in Petroleum Basins,” AAPG Memoir 60, ch.12 (structural trap classification); James, N.P. & Jones, B., Origin of Carbonate Sedimentary Rocks, Wiley-Blackwell (carbonate platform/ramp/sabkha facies models); Law, B.E. & Curtis, J.B., “Introduction to unconventional petroleum systems,” AAPG Bulletin 86 (basin-centred gas); Mossop, G.D. & Shetsen, I. (eds.), Geological Atlas of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin, CSPG/Alberta Research Council, 1994 (WCSB stratigraphy and Canadian basin geography).

Section 6, Q6-2: Sedimentary basins and arches of Canada (10 marks)

Question text not reproduced: the examination questions are © Engineers and Geoscientists BC. Open the official past paper (linked at the top of this page) to read the question, then follow the worked solution below.

Check: the schematic map below is a simplified, approximately-positioned sketch of Canada for labelling purposes (not a georeferenced tracing of the exam's own blank outline map) – basin/arch positions are qualitatively correct (correct province/region and relative location) but should not be read as precise boundaries.
Major sedimentary basins and arches of Canada (schematic) WCSB (AB/BC/SK/MB) Williston Peace River Arch Sweetgrass Arch Beaufort–Mackenzie Sverdrup Basin Hudson Bay Basin Michigan Basin (SW ON) Anticosti Basin Scotian Basin Jeanne d'Arc Basin
Schematic placement of Canada's major petroleum-bearing basins and intrabasinal arches: Western Canada Sedimentary Basin (WCSB, Alberta/BC/Saskatchewan/Manitoba); Williston Basin (SE Saskatchewan/Manitoba); Peace River Arch and Sweetgrass Arch (structural highs within/bounding the WCSB); Beaufort–Mackenzie Basin and Sverdrup Basin (Arctic); Hudson Bay Basin; Michigan Basin (extending into southwestern Ontario); Anticosti Basin (Gulf of St. Lawrence, Quebec); Scotian Basin and Jeanne d'Arc Basin (offshore Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, respectively, the latter hosting the Hibernia field).

Basins. Western Canada Sedimentary Basin (the country's largest producing basin, spanning Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba); Williston Basin (southeastern Saskatchewan/southwestern Manitoba, extending into the US Bakken play); Beaufort–Mackenzie Basin (Arctic, NWT/Yukon); Sverdrup Basin (Canadian Arctic Archipelago); Hudson Bay Basin; Michigan Basin (its Canadian portion underlying southwestern Ontario); Anticosti Basin (Gulf of St. Lawrence, Quebec); Scotian Basin (offshore Nova Scotia); Jeanne d'Arc Basin (offshore Newfoundland, host to the Hibernia, Terra Nova and White Rose fields).

Arches. Peace River Arch (northwestern Alberta/northeastern BC, a major intrabasinal high that separated WCSB sub-basins during the Paleozoic and strongly controlled Devonian reef and later facies distribution); Sweetgrass Arch (southern Alberta–Montana border area, separating the WCSB from the Williston Basin); Tathlina High/West Alberta Arch (northern Alberta, a lesser-known Paleozoic paleohigh).

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