Duvernay talk.. BXE is there. Alberta Bakken - 423 Billion Barrels of OOIP + 58 Billion Liquids
PN Bakken: Alberta opens door on huge resources; formations on parallel with Bakken, say agencies
Petroleum News Bakken
Alberta’s emerging shale and/or siltstone formations could ultimately yield 423.6 billion barrels of oil, 58.6 billion barrels of liquids and 3.3 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, says a long-awaited report by the Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board and the Alberta Geological Survey.
The report is designed to provide baseline data, information and understanding of the geology, distribution, reservoir characteristics and hydrocarbon resource potential of Alberta shales.
The calculations for the formations, including the Duvernay, Montney and Muskwa, put the deposits in the same league as some of the major U.S. shale plays as part of the radical industry shift from conventional operations to horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing.
Andrew Beaton, one of the report’s authors, said the numbers fall roughly into line with the Eagle Ford and Marcellus shales and approximate numbers reported so far by companies exploring the shale prospects in Alberta.
Potential beyond oil sands
The findings bolster the view that Alberta has immense hydrocarbon potential beyond its oil sands, rated as the world’s third-largest deposit at 170 billion barrels of proven reserves and an ultimate potential of 1.7 trillion barrels.
The Duvernay and Montney have already attracted strong investments from Encana, Chevron and Talisman Energy, with ExxonMobil joining the scramble in October by negotiating a C$2.6 billion takeover of Celtic Exploration, while a host of mostly state-owned Asian companies have stakes out minority positions.
The study says the Duvernay formation, which cuts across much of north-central Alberta, contains 61.7 billion barrels of oil, 11.3 billion barrels of liquids and 443 tcf of gas, while the Muskwa in northwestern Alberta has 115.1 billion barrels of oil, 14.8 billion barrels of liquids and 419 tcf of gas.