The phase of the Trenton-Black River (TBR) hydrothermal dolomite (HTD) play: Historical context and contributions to a modern exploration model

Terry Carter, Ministry of Natural Resources, London, ON Bob Trevail, Dallas-Morris Drilling, PA Lee Fortner, Ministry of Natural Resources, London, ON

AAPG Eastern Section annual meeting, Pittsburg, USA, Oct.14, 2008 Trenton-Black River (TBR) hydrothermal dolomite (HTD) - Dolomitization of regional Trenton reservoir model and/or Black River regional limestones associated with faults and fractures -Sag at top of Trenton over the dolomitized zone -Oil and gas reservoirs in the porous dolomite -Narrow, linear reservoirs -Utica shale cap rock, lateral seal by impermeable limestone RegionalRegional StructuresStructures andand BedrockBedrock GeologyGeology

84° 82° 80° 78° 76°

46° 46° {

Fro Lake nten ac Huron Arch

44° 44°

h Lake Ontario rc A Michigan in u q Basin n o BEDROCK GEOLOGY lg A Upper Devonian Middle Devonian Lower Devonian Ch ath Upper Silurian S am Appalachian ag Middle and Lower Basin Silurian y ie 42° 42° Er Upper Ordovician la ake d h L c 0 50 100 km Middle Ordovician in r F A Precambrian 84°82°80°78° Ontario Stratigraphy

Trenton-Black River hydrothermal dolomite OrdovicianOrdovician StratigraphyStratigraphy -- OntarioOntario Blue Mountain (Utica)

(Utica)

Upper Ordovician Sherman Fall (Trenton)

Gull River (Black River) Black River Isopach (metres) Bailey & Cochrane, 1984 Trenton Isopach (metres) Bailey & Cochrane, 1984 Trenton Kirkfield Formation)

Coboconk Formation Black River Top of Gull River Deicke K-bentonite

Photo courtesy Brechin Quarry Derek Armstrong, OGS • Regional play Trenton-Black River HTD PlayQuebe • long history – c, Nfld at least 1863 Regional Setting • Geographic focal point of exploration has varied over time • Still very active New York play Albion- Ontario Scipio Lima-Indiana

W Virginia Exploration History: Pre-1900 1863: oil and gas shows reported in wells drilled on Manitoulin Island, ON

Late 1800’s/early 1900’s: several gas fields discovered in New York State reported to produce Manitoulin Is from the Trenton-Black River (Drazan, 1989)

1884: first gas production New York from Trenton Group in Ohio near town of Findlay Lima- (Wickstrom et al. Indiana 1992)

1885: Oil discovered at Lima resulting in drilling boom that resulted in development of Lima- Indiana trend Early Exploration Play Concepts

• Orton (1888, 1889) was first to note the Bowling Green Fault Zone (Wickstrom et al., 1992) – called it “Findlay Break” – associated it with increased production Manitoulin Is – noted relationship of productive areas to high concentrations of magnesium carbonate – suggested that porosity New York was result of dolomitization

Lima- • Bownocker (1903) was Indiana first to state explicitly that traps within Trenton might be result of textural change within the rock in addition to structure Exploration History: early 1900’s

1900’s – continuing development of Lima- Indiana

1900 – Hepworth – first production of natural gas from Trenton-Black River in Ontario Hepworth

1917 - Dover gas pool discovered by Union Gas Company of Canada Dover 1920 – Deerfield discovery well Deerfield in MI Lima- Indiana Exploration History: mid-1900’s

1954 – Acton gas pool discovered in Ontario 1957 - Scipio oil field discovery MI 1958 – Albion oil field discovery 12 miles northwest of Scipio 1959-1961 – Colchester, Acton Malden, Gosfield ON

Albion-Scipio Colchester etc Exploration History: 1983-2000

“Ontario Phase”

Feb.1983 - Dover 7-5-V E Pool discovered 1.5 km north of Dover Pool in Ontario

Nov.1983 - Hillman Pool discovered by Consumers’ Gas in Ontario

1984 – Stoney Point oil pool New Stoney Ontario York discovery in MI Point

1985 – first modern discovery in New York – no development until 1995 W Virginia 1999 – Cottontree gas field discovery in West Virginia Exploration History: post-2000

Quebec, • Exploration throughout Newfoundland Appalachia

• Discoveries in Quebec and Newfoundland

• Prolific gas pool New discoveries in New Albion- Ontario York York Scipio Lima- Indiana • Declining activity in Ontario W Virginia OntarioOntario TBRTBR PoolsPools -- 19821982 HistoricalHistorical ExplorationExploration PhasePhase (Pre(Pre 1983)1983)

• 17 pools • Williams (1918) recognized structural low on top of Trenton as early as 1917 • Linear/fault association first recognized in Ontario in 1935 in the Dover gas pool • Exploration success constrained by lack of modern exploration model and lack of reliable exploration method EarlyEarly ModelsModels

Burgess (1960) Sanford (1961) ExplorationExploration MethodsMethods

I guess we’ll drill here! AAPG, 2001

Serendipity (Dover +) Psychic (Albion-Scipio) www.atoka.com/int_ontario.htm

John Armentrout, 2000 Seismic Surface Geochemical 19761976 SeismicSeismic –– GosfieldGosfield SouthSouth PoolPool

Trenton YearYear ofof DiscoveriesDiscoveries -- 19831983

Dover 7-5-V East

Hillman

Rowe/Ram #1 Dover 7-5-V E Northeast Oil Reporter, 1984 Consumers et al 33683 Mersea 1-15-B ModernModern ExplorationExploration PhasePhase (1983(1983--2004)2004) • 1983/1984 - Dover 7-5-V East and Hillman (Ontario) and Stoney Point (Michigan) discoveries • TBR becomes most active and successful play in Ontario initially with several local operators but eventually dominated by Talisman Energy • During this phase, 39 pools discovered representing 93% of oil reserves and 62% of gas in the play • seismic emerges as indispensable exploration method to identify exploration targets • 1985 – fracture framework mapping • 1993 - first horizontal TBR well in Ontario • First 3D seismic survey mid 1990’s – not widely used • 2000 - Talisman Energy (Fortuna) expands operations to New York State FractureFracture FrameworkFramework ModelModel

• association with TBR hydrothermal dolomite reservoirs OntarioOntario SeismicSeismic LineLine 9090--BSRBSR--0202 Romney 6-13-IV Romney 3-13-III Romney 6-13-III

Dundee

Rochester

Trenton

Black River

Precambrian Oil Pool Discovery History 1983 11 pools 32 pools 2.6 MMbo 20.9 MMbo Gas Pool Discovery History 1983

9 pools 18 pools 16 bcf 25 bcf Exploration Methods Horizontal Drilling

• First TBR horizontal well drilled Aug.1, 1993: Ram Talisman #2 Horiz #1 Mersea 8-16-VIII • 114 horizontal wells drilled in TBR play in Ontario • Longest horizontal 5000 m measured depth at true vertical depth of 857 m • 20 horizontal wells drilled beneath Lake Erie to access offshore extensions of TBR pools Horizontal Wells: Lake Erie Trenton-Black River Pools - 2005

Dover 7-5-V E

Dover gas pool

Rochester pools

Renwick-Fargo Wigle-Olinda

Goldsmith-Lakeshore

Hillman -10 to 20 m. depression -400 to 1200 m. width -14 km long -production from Trenton -Largest TBR oil pool – 6 mmbo - Oil in Black River, gas in Trenton ShermanSherman FallFall FmFm TelesisTelesis 3461134611 MerseaMersea 66--243243--NTRNTR 775.9 – 779.6 metres

ultraviolet light ConsumersConsumers 3416034160 RomneyRomney 55--88--IIII

Top

Bottom Core 908-OGSR Library Dolomitization

Core 907-OGSR Library Core 908-OGSR Library 908-OGSR Core Saddle dolomite fractures

Dolomitized grainstone Breccia

Consumers 33821 Black River Gp. Hillman Pool IntercrystallineIntercrystalline PorosityPorosity ConsumersConsumers 3382133821 ResourceResource AssessmentAssessment ofof TrentonTrenton--BlackBlack RiverRiver PlayPlay inin OntarioOntario 20052005

• Geological play analysis & resource assessment of TBR oil and gas play in Ontario • Funded by Natural Resources Canada under the Targeted Geoscience Initiative

• Terry Carter, Ministry of Natural Resources • Sean McFarland, Golder Associates • Bob Trevail, Dallas-Morris Drilling • Phil Walsh, Joe Gorman, Energy Objective Study Outcomes

•Pool maps • Monthly production by pool and well • Reserve estimates • Reservoir parameters • Undiscovered resources • Published by Oil, Gas and Salt Resources Library, London, ON, www.ogsrlibrary.com PoolPool Maps:Maps: GoldsmithGoldsmith--LakeshoreLakeshore Trenton Structure – CI = 5 m

0 2,000 metres EUR: 6.1 MMbbls & 4 BCF

Trevail and Carter, 2005 PoolPool SummarySummary SheetsSheets –– HillmanHillman RecoverableRecoverable OilOil PerPer WellWell

1,000,000

n = 195 Data truncated to those values greater than 6,000 bbls µ = 11.17 Variance = 1.00 Mean = 70,865.75 Mode = 26,001.45 P10 = 19,639.60 P50 = 70,865.75 P90 = 255,705.49

100,000

10,000 Estimated Recoverable Reserves (bbls) Actual Recoverable Reserves Best Fit Recoverable Reserves

1,000 0.1 0.5 1 2 5 10 15 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 85 90 95 98 99 99.5 99.9

Cumulative Probability (%) Reservoir Parameters

Porosity average 6 – 8% range 1 – 30% Permeability average n.d. Range .01 – 10,000 md Pay thickness average 10 – 20 m. max 58 m. Initial Pressure 8000 – 9000 kPa Oil API 39 – 42 Reservoir Area up to 900 ha Reservoir Dimensions up to 1200 m. width x 14 km length Annual Decline 15 – 20% Spacing 20.2 ha Average Depth 800 m. Oil Reserves/well 70,000 bbl Gas Reserves/well 300 mmcf (unassociated) Oil Reserves by Pool Pool Name Rec. Reserves Cum. Production Goldsmith- 6.1 million bbl 5.4 million bbl Lakeshore Renwick-Fargo 3.85 million bbl 3.3 million bbl

Wigle-Olinda 3.4 million bbl 2.5 million

Hillman 2.5 million bbl 2.3 million

Rochester 1-17-II 1.7 million bbl 1.5 million EBR Dover 7-5-V E 1.3 million bbl 1.2 million

36 0thers 3.6 million bbl 3.2 million bbl

Total 22.5 million bbl 19.5 million Gas Reserves by Pool Pool Name Rec. Reserves Cum. Production Dover 13.6 bcf 13.6 bcf

Dover 7-5-V E 9.7 bcf 8.6 bcf

Goldsmith- 4.0 bcf 3.3 bcf Lakeshore Wigle-Olinda 2.3 bcf 1.5 bcf

Renwick-Fargo 1.9 bcf 1.4 bcf

Rochester 1-17-II 1.8 bcf 1.45 bcf EBR 21 0thers 7.6 bcf 5.2 bcf

Total 41 bcf 35 bcf Potential Oil Resources

39.7 MMbo total 43% undiscovered 39.7 mmbo 17.2 mmbo 22.5 mmbo Potential Gas Resources

281 bcf total 85% undiscovered Largest pool undiscovered 281 bcf 41 bcf 240 bcf Summary • Regional play dating back to at least 1863 • Evolution in exploration methods and exploration models • Ontario phase 1983-2000 • refinement of seismic • horizontal drilling • export of expertise to New York • Continued refinement of exploration model and methods • Considerable remaining potential • More information: www.ogsrlibrary.com Oil, Gas and Salt Resources Library

• The Library is a public resource centre for study of subsurface geology and oil, gas, salt and underground hydrocarbon storage resources of Ontario • Source of exploration and production data for Ontario • 27,000 well files, 4,000 geophysical logs, cuttings for 13,000 wells, core for 1,000 wells, digital well database and GIS data • www.ogsrlibrary.com