Shale Gas Opportunities in Southern Ontario

Home , Antrim Shale, Collingwood Shale, Gull River (Balsam Lake)

Shale Gas Opportunities in Southern Ontario – an Update

Terry Carter, Ministry of Natural Resources, London, ON Lee Fortner, Ministry of Natural Resources, London, ON Catherine Béland-Otis, Ontario Geological Survey, Sudbury, ON

48th Annual OPI Conference and Trade Show Sarnia, Ontario Acknowledgements

• Oil, Gas and Salt Resources Library • Staff of Petroleum Resources Centre, MNR • Tony Hamblin, GSC – Open File Report 5384 Regional Geological Setting and Shale Gas Plays Potential gas shales in Ontario

Same plays as in NE U.S. and Quebec

Best potential in: – U. Devonian Kettle Point Fm (Antrim shale equivalent) – M. Devonian Marcellus Formation – U. Ordovician Blue Mountain Formation and Collingwood shale (Utica equivalents) • Gas shows, no current production • Unexplored (only one shale gas exploratory well) • Large prospective areas Age Windsor-Essex London area Niagara Peninsula

- Sunbury Pt

ton Berea Lamb Bedford Upper Kettle Point Kettle Point Kettle Point Ipperwash Widder Hungry Hollow Hungry Hollow Arkona

Hamilton Rockport Quarry Arkona Bell Hamilton

Middle Marcellus Marcellus Dundee Dundee Dundee Devonian

Lucas Lucas River River R. Detroit Detroit Detroit Detroit De Amherstburg Amherstburg t. Amherstburg

Bois Blanc Bois Blanc Bois Blanc

Lower Oriskany

Bass Islands Bass Islands Bass Islands - Bertie Subsurface G unit G unit G unit F unit F unit F unit E unit E unit E unit D unit C unit C unit C unit Upper Salina Salina Salina B unit B B Paleozoic A-2 unit A-2 unit A-2 unit A unit A unit A-1 unit A-1 unit A-1 unit

Guelph Guelph Guelph Eramosa Eramosa Eramosa Stratigraphic Goat Island Goat Island Gasport Gasport Wiarton Decew Rochester Middle Amabel Amabel Lockport Chart Silurian Rochester Irondequoit Reynales Reynales Fossil Hill Thorold

Cabot Head Grimsby Cabot Head Manitoulin Man. Cabot Head Lower Cataract Cataract Manitoulin Whirlpool Cataract Whirlpool

Queenston Queenston Queenston

Blue Mountain + Collingwood Upper Georgian Bay - Blue Mountain Georgian Bay - Blue Mountain Georgian Bay - Blue Mountain Cobourg Cobourg Cobourg Sherman Fall Sherman Fall Sherman Fall Trenton Trenton Kirkfield Kirkfield Trenton Kirkfield Coboconk Coboconk Coboconk

Clastics Middle Gull River Gull River Gull River River River River Ordovician Black Black Carbonates Black Shadow Lake Shadow Lk Shadow Lake

Evaporites Eau Claire Theresa Mt. Simon Potsdam Upper

Shales Camb. Precambrian Crystalline Basement Potential Gas Shales in Southern Ontario - outcrop

Collingwood Ontario

Lake Huron

Lake Ontario

Michigan New York

Kettle Point

Hamilton Group

Marcellus

Georgian Bay

Blue Mountain Georgian Bay-Blue Mountain / Collingwood outcrop

Collingwood Ontario

Lake Huron

Lake Ontario

Michigan

New York

Georgian Bay

Blue Mountain Blue Mountain / Collingwood (Utica)

• Collingwood • Calcareous shale; average thickness 4 to 6 m, max 12 m • TOC: 1 to 11%, marginally mature to mature • Depth to top: outcrop - 175 m • 25,000 km2 • Attempts to extract oil in 1860’s • Blue Mountain Formation • Unsubdivided Georgian Bay-Blue Mountain Formation in subsurface • Non-calcareous shale approximately 75 m thick • Lowermost 2 to 50 m is black organic-rich with up to 3 % TOC • Depth to top: outcrop - 1000 m • 70,000 km2 TOP: Blue Mountain Blue Mountain / 804.3 m Collingwood

Collingwood

Trenton

BOTTOM: 850.6 m Collingwood subcrop / outcrop

Churcher et al, 1991 OFR 5817 Georgian Bay-Blue Mountain Structure

Ontario

Lake Huron

Lake Ontario

Michigan

New York

C.I. = 50 m Georgian Bay-Blue Mountain Isopach

Ontario

Lake Huron

Lake Ontario

Michigan

New York

C.I. = 50 m Georgian Bay-Blue Mountain Gas Shows

Ontario

Lake Huron

Lake Ontario

Michigan

New York

C.I. = 50 m Blue Mountain black shales

black shale 1000-1055 m Maturity Studies • Obermajer, Fowler & Snowdon, AAPG 1999 • Core, cuttings, outcrop • Most samples are mature, in oil window • Increase in maturity to southeast (Repetski et al, 2008) • Lack of samples in southeast where shales are thickest – gas window?

Obermajer, Fowler & Snowdon, 1999 Marcellus shale

Ontario

Lake Huron

Lake Ontario

Michigan

New York

Hamilton Group

Marcellus Age Windsor-Essex London area Niagara Peninsula

- Sunbury Pt

ton Berea Lamb Bedford Upper Kettle Point Kettle Point Kettle Point Ipperwash Widder Hungry Hollow Hungry Hollow Arkona

Hamilton Rockport Quarry Arkona Bell Hamilton

Middle Marcellus Marcellus Dundee Dundee Dundee Devonian

Lucas Lucas River River R. Detroit Detroit Detroit Detroit De Amherstburg Amherstburg t. Amherstburg

Bois Blanc Bois Blanc Bois Blanc

Lower Oriskany

Cabot Head Grimsby Cabot Head Manitoulin Man. Cabot Head Lower Cataract Cataract Manitoulin Whirlpool Cataract Whirlpool

Queenston Queenston Queenston

Clastics Middle Gull River Gull River Gull River River River River Ordovician Black Black Carbonates Black Shadow Lake Shadow Lk Shadow Lake

Evaporites Eau Claire Theresa Mt. Simon Potsdam Upper

Shales Camb. Precambrian Crystalline Basement Marcellus Shale

• No surface outcrop, subcrop beneath glacial drift • Max 12 m thick beneath Lake Erie • TOC: 1 to 11% • Depth to top: subcrop to 225 m • 4700 km2, mostly beneath Lake Erie • Marginally mature TOP: Marcellus 90.5 m Marcellus Formation

No outcrop at surface

Dundee BOTTOM: OGS 82-3, 98.6 m Yarmouth 3-9-I Marcellus shale subcrop

Lake Huron

Ontario Michigan Gas shows in Marcellus

Lake Huron

Ontario Michigan

Gas shows in Marcellus Kettle Point Formation - outcrop

Ontario

Lake Huron

Lake Ontario

Michigan

New York

Kettle Point Age Windsor-Essex London area Niagara Peninsula

- Sunbury Pt

ton Berea Lamb Bedford Upper Kettle Point Kettle Point Kettle Point Ipperwash Widder Hungry Hollow Hungry Hollow Arkona

Hamilton Rockport Quarry Arkona Bell Hamilton

Middle Marcellus Marcellus Dundee Dundee Dundee Devonian

Lucas Lucas River River R. Detroit Detroit Detroit Detroit De Amherstburg Amherstburg t. Amherstburg

Bois Blanc Bois Blanc Bois Blanc

Lower Oriskany

Cabot Head Grimsby Cabot Head Manitoulin Man. Cabot Head Lower Cataract Cataract Manitoulin Whirlpool Cataract Whirlpool

Queenston Queenston Queenston

Clastics Middle Gull River Gull River Gull River River River River Ordovician Black Black Carbonates Black Shadow Lake Shadow Lk Shadow Lake

Evaporites Eau Claire Theresa Mt. Simon Potsdam Upper

Shales Camb. Precambrian Crystalline Basement Kettle Point Formation

• Subcrop beneath glacial drift – only 3 outcrops • Max 105 m thick, average 28 m • TOC: 3 to 15% • Depth to top: outcrop to 143 m • 9500 km2, 50% beneath Lake Erie • Thermally immature • Numerous gas shows in petroleum wells and water wells • Production in late 1800’s near Ridgetown for street lighting • One exploratory well: OSN Gore of Chatham, Chatham 7-16-IV in 2006 – reported as plugged & abandoned with gas show Kettle Point Kettle Point Formation

Hamilton Group

OGS 82-2 Chatham Kettle Point Isopach

Lake Huron

Ontario Michigan

New York

C.I. = 20 m Gas Shows in Kettle Point

Lake Huron

Ontario Michigan

New York Gas Shows in Hamilton Group

Lake Huron

Ontario Michigan

New York

Hamilton Group Subcrop Gas Shows in Drift

Lake Huron

Ontario Michigan

New York Gas Shows in Water Wells

Lake Huron

Ontario Michigan

New York Natural Gas in Groundwater “Contact Aquifer”

OIL/GAS

SURFA C E C ASIN G Gas in “contact SURFACDRIFT E SED IM EN TS Top of aquifer” FRESH WATER bedrock KettleSH APoint LE

SALTY W A TER I N SA N DSTO N E

SHALE

All Gas Shows associated with Kettle Point

Lake Huron

Ontario Michigan

Gas shows in Kettle Point

Gas shows in Hamilton Gp. New York Gas shows in water wells

Gas shows in drift Biogenic or Thermogenic ?

• No direct evidence for any of the Ontario shales • Natural gas in drift and bedrock over prospective shales is associated with fresh water and may be biogenic • Shallow, low temperature • Antrim shale in Michigan is at least in part biogenic • Best potential for thermogenic gas may be in the deeper thermally mature Blue Mountain / Collingwood shales Summary

• Shale gas potential in Kettle Point, Marcellus, and Blue Mountain / Collingwood formations • Large prospective areas • Thermally immature to mature • Favourable depths and thicknesses • Natural gas shows reported – large number in Kettle Point formation • Gas is there - Can it be commercially recovered? • Research project initiated by Ontario Geological Survey in 2009 – Catherine Béland-Otis Ontario Bedrock Geology

84° 82° 80° 78° 76°

46° 46° /

FindlayFrontenac Arch Lake Huron

44° 44° Lake Ontario

BEDROCK GEOLOGY

Algonquin Arch Upper Devonian Middle Devonian Lower Devonian

Upper Silurian

FrontenacArchMichiganBasinAppBasinChathamSag a lach ian Arch

Silurian 42°Middle and Low 42° Upper Ordovician Lake Erie 0 50 100 km Middle Ordovician AlgonquinFindlay Arch Precambrian 84° 82° 80° 78° All Gas shows associated with Kettle Point

Lake Huron Ontario

Michigan

Lake Erie Gas shows in Kettle Point

Gas shows in Hamilton Gp.

Gas shows in water wells

Gas shows in drift

Blue Mountain / Collingwood Stratigraphy

Subsurface Terms Outcrop Terms

Queenston Queenston Georgian Bay Upper Georgian Bay - Blue Mountain Blue Mountain Cobourg Lindsay (+ Collingwood) Upper Sherman Fall Verulam

Trenton Kirkfield

Bobcaygeon

Coboconk Middle Simcoe Gull River Gull River Ordovician

River Black Shadow Lake Shadow Lake

Stratigraphy

Age Windsor-Essex London area Niagara Peninsula - - Sunbury Pt Pt ton ton Berea Lamb Lamb Bedford Upper Upper Kettle Point Kettle Point

Ipperwash Widder Hungry Hollow Hungry Hollow Arkona Hamilton Hamilton Rockport Quarry Arkona Bell Hamilton Hamilton

Middle Marcellus Dundee Dundee Dundee Devonian

Lucas Lucas River River R. Detroit Detroit Detroit Detroit De Amherstburg Amherstburg t. Amherstburg

Stratigraphy

Age Windsor-Essex London area Niagara Peninsula - - Sunbury Pt Pt ton ton Berea Lamb Lamb Bedford Upper Upper Kettle Point Kettle Point

Ipperwash Widder Hungry Hollow Hungry Hollow Arkona Hamilton Hamilton Rockport Quarry Arkona Bell Hamilton Hamilton

Middle Marcellus Dundee Dundee Dundee Devonian

Lucas Lucas River River R. Detroit Detroit Detroit Detroit De Amherstburg Amherstburg t. Amherstburg

Stratigraphic Correlations