Mackenzie Delta Corridor
The scientific research and results of this project are available via GEOSCAN.
The Mackenzie Corridor and Mackenzie Delta/Beaufort Sea are frontier regions with large discovered hydrocarbon resources, and recent discoveries point to substantial, undiscovered reserves.
Project leader – Robert MacNaughton
Hypothesis:
Standard discovery models predict that the large oil field at Norman Wells should not be unique. Are there undiscovered hydrocarbon fields of comparable size in the Mackenzie Corridor and is the current model of hydrocarbon systems for the Mackenzie Delta valid in the areas of exploration interest in the Beaufort Sea?
Research objectives:
- provide the first quantitative petroleum resource assessment for the region;
- produce modern bedrock geology maps for the region around the Norman Wells oil-field; and
- generate new data to aid oil and gas exploration.
Scientific Highlights
- A new model for the tectonic and stratigraphic evolution of the oil and gas-bearing Cambrian basin in the northern Northwest Territories.
- Recognition that large oil and gas resource potential may exist in the offshore rift margin of the Beaufort-Mackenzie Basin, and may extend northward to offshore Banks Island.
- Improved understanding of microfossil recycling in Tertiary strata in Beaufort-Mackenzie Basin, and its implications for stratigraphic correlation.
- Development of standardized approaches for assessing thermal maturity when combining new and legacy data from vitrinite reflectance.
Information about other GEM energy projects is available on the Geo-mapping for Energy web page.