NTGO Information Update
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
NORTHWEST TERRITORIES RELEASES UNCONVENTIONAL NATURAL GAS SCOPING STUDY
Northwest Territories Geoscience Office (NTGO) commissioned Dr. Brad Hayes of Petrel Robertson Consulting Ltd. in Calgary to conduct a scientific scoping study that provides background and preliminary information on the prospectivity of the Northwest Territories (NWT) to host unconventional natural gas like coal bed methane, tight gas, and shale gas.
Broad findings of the scoping report are:
- Coal bed methane potential is very small as NWT coal beds are generally thin and unprospective for natural gas generation in economic quantities.
- Tight gas potential in the NWT is interesting but unproven. Several intervals in the subsurface need further examination.
- Shale gas potential is large but unexplored. There are several prospective geological formations throughout the NWT, including units that are continuous with those now attracting extensive industry investments in northeast British Columbia.
Recommendations for future research include characterizing and mapping several units with shale gas potential, as well as assessing tight gas prospectivity in high-priority targets.
The NWT has thus far largely been considered from a conventional oil and gas perspective. This scoping study is the first attempt to examine unconventional gas in the Territory. Now released, the report (NWT Open File 2010-03) is available for download from www.nwtgeoscience.ca.
About NTGO: The Northwest Territories Geoscience Office is a federal-territorial partnership between Indian and Northern Affairs Canada and the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment. It advances geological knowledge of the Northwest Territories for the benefit of Northerners and all Canadians.
For a listing of our recently released publications, click here.
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