E XPLORATION & DEVELOPMENT Several large gas discoveries were ies, the Hopedale basin has considerable made along the Canadian Labrador shelf potential for natural gas development during an early exploration cycle that and presents a wide variety of large, extended through the 1970s into the undrilled structural and stratigraphic early 1980s. With the focus at the time features. However, oil shows in two of being strictly on oil exploration, no de- the Labrador wells, as well as on the HOPEDALE BASIN—1 velopment and no further drilling have conjugate margin off west Greenland, occurred in the area since 1983. also indicate that there is a good pos- That early drilling, which included sibility of oil fi nds. only 27 wells (21 located in the Hope- The increasing demand for clean dale basin) proved the presence of 4.2 tcf of re- coverable natural gas in the fi ve discoveries made and Favorable geology, advanced technology demonstrated the presence of a rich petroleum system may unlock Labrador’s substantial resource over a vast area. With recent trends in commodity prices and the need for energy in the Eastern US and Canada is new supply regions it is understand- being supplemented by the emergence able that industry is now revisiting this of new cold-ocean production and Michael Enachescu highly prospective frontier located on transportation technologies (CNG, LNG, Memorial University the northeast corner of North America. GTL tankers, for example) and is setting St. John’s, Newf. To date this renewed activity has been the stage for a new cycle of exploration in the form of modern 2D seismic data drilling and monetizing the stranded across the shelf and into the unexplored gas resources off Labrador. slope and deepwater area. Although there are two major basins HOPEDALE, OTHER EAST CANADA BASINS Fig. 1 in the Labrador Sea, the focus in the Labrador SeaSea new exploration cycle is the Hopedale Anticosti basin basin which contains the signifi cant Paleozoic basins are labeled in blue text discoveries from the earlier cycle. The Saglek Sable basin basinBasin Mesozoic basins are labeled in purple text Hopedale basin is a large Mesozoic Hopedale rifted area that covers 175,000 sq km Basinbasin and extends from the modern day shelf OrphanOrphan F llemishe to the lower slope (200 to 3,000 m of basinBasin PaPass mishB s s B water). JeanneJea n ne d Based on the characteristics of the Bbasin a d’Arc s ’ in A prerift basement and of the sedimen- rc tary infi ll, the Hopedale basin can be Area shown Anticosti subdivided into a series of subbasins Basinbasin Port au Port #1 S. Whale and ridges probably offset on strike Sidney Basinbasin LaurentianLaurentian Basinbasin by transfer faults. Several larger dep- basinBasin MaritimeMaritime ocenters are recognized on the shelf Basinbasin and slope that contain thick Mesozoic Sable sequences including mature Cretaceous Basinbasin source rocks and possibly Late Jurassic alt basinAtlantic Ocean aged sediments at deeper locations. tian S The improved resolution of seismic Georges Bank ScotianSco Salt BasinAtlantic Ocean Basinbasin data shows a number of large, previous- 0 249 ly unknown structural and stratigraphic Miles Sources: Bathymetry of Canadian margin after Km leads on the distal continental shelf and NRCan; North America map reproduced from 0 400 on the slope. www.randonneetours.com As attested by the existing discover- Reprinted from the June 19, 2006 and June 26, 2006 edition of OIL & GAS JOURNAL Copyright 2006 by PennWell Corporation E XPLORATION & DEVELOPMENT ATLANTIC CANADA BASINS AND NL LAND TENURE MID-2006 Fig. 2 3,000 m Landsale parcels Saglek basin Labrador Mesozoic basin Sea Carboniferous basin Okak arch Early Paleozoic basin Labrador Exploration license shelf Hopedale basin 2,000 m 3 ,0 0 0 m m 200 Hawke basin right w Labrador rt h Ca arc Quebec St. Anthony basin m 2,000 m 0 Parcel 5 0 m 00 m 20 2, 200 Orphan Parcel 4 Gulf of Knoll St. Lawrence Parcel 3 200 m East Orphan basin Parcel 2 Anticostibasin Quebec 200 m Deer Lake m n Bay St. George basin 00 i ,0 s basin 2 a 200 Newfoundland 0 m b Atlantic 20 m Parcel 1 Bonav s s Flemish Cap ista platfor a P len basin Ocean St.St. John’sJohn’s h s Magda m i Parcel 1 J m New Parcel 2 Jeanne d’Arc 200 m m e 0 l 0 2,0 Brunswick basin F PE Sydney Parcel 3 I basin Hibernia Laurentian Terra Nova White Rose 0 m basin 3,00 Whale US Orpheus graben basin n itio n Canso ridge n Nova Scotia o ve m ar Newfoundland Seamounts ha tfor basin in La la Sal p Carson/B bas 200 m Sable project South Whale basin Scotian shelf asin 20 b 0 m Deep Panuke 2, 000 m m 0124Miles 200 Scotian m 2,000 m Annapolis discovery 0200Km 200 Provincial Jurisdiction Boundary 0 m 3,00 Source: Modified after the GSC, C,-NLOPB and Enachescu, 2005 Introduction A new exploration program off 338,000 b/d, representing around 10 Although almost 10 tcf of recover- Labrador may bring the large future gas million bbl/month, the province of able natural gas has been discovered discoveries that provide the critical mass Newfoundland and Labrador is produc- offshore Newfoundland and Labrador, and will launch offshore Newfoundland ing at the level of a world class produc- (4.2 tcf offshore Labrador and 5.99 tcf and Labrador as a new gas supply area er from one giant, Hibernia, and two on the Grand Banks), commercial pro- for North America. Alternatively it may large fi elds, Terra Nova and White Rose. duction of gas has yet to proceed.1-4 bring new oil discoveries to a province This production represents about 40% The solution gas being produced that it will soon produce 400,000 b/d of Canada’s light oil output and it is with the oil on the Grand Banks is of oil.5 equivalent to about 40% of the present presently being re-injected to main- The passive continental margin of deepwater Gulf of Mexico production. tain reservoir pressure and for eventual Atlantic Canada stretches on for more White Rose fi eld began production commercialization. Work is under way than 3,000 km from Georges Bank, at in late 2005 and is expected to ramp in government agencies, at Memorial the Canada-US border to the northern up this summer to about 100,000 b/d, University, and among the industry tip of Labrador (Figs. 1 and 2) and off while the other two fi elds have reached players on the best means to bring this Baffi n Island.1 2 6-8 their production peaks. These fi elds are gas to market. With production of more than in the increasingly productive Jeanne d’Arc basin, which is only one of the HOPEDALE BASIN STRUCTURAL SUBDIVISIONS, DISCOVERIES, SEISMIC DATA Fig. 3 many Mesozoic basins located in Atlan- tic Canada. Saglek basin Continent-Ocean Boundary Labrador 2004 - approx. 8.971 km Based on latest geologic, petrophysi- Labrador 2003 - approx 1.148 km cal, and reservoir simulation studies Pre 1990 data - approx. 31,240 km Reprocessed data - approx. 19,800 km and drilling results, the C-NLOPB has Limit Mesozoic basin revised upward its estimates of recover- Hawke Channel includes 10 km buffer able reserves-resources. It put Hibernia fi eld oil reserves at 1.244 billion bbl, 0 Miles 62 Okak arch an increase of 379 million bbl, and the 0Km 100 Hebron complex at 731 million bbl of Nain Igneous e proven and probable oil resources, an subbasin xtru J-90 si increase of 317 million bbl. ve prov Labrador H ince These amounts bring the total of oil Sea reserves-resources in the Newfoundland o and Labrador offshore area to 2.75 bil- p lion bbl, an increase of 696 million bbl e Harrison Continent-Oce d subbasin from previous estimates. This combined a reserve boost generously counterbal- l ances the already produced oil from E-33 e F-06 an Boundary Hibernia and Terra Nova fi elds. H-81 Hamilton Newfoundland and Labrador’s area Ter subbasin tiary gravity of petroleum potential extends far b H-55 fol beyond the boundaries of the produc- a ds prov 6-8 Tertiar ing Jeanne d’Arc basin. Mesozoic s I-05 ince y l i istri sedimentary basins are found from prov c f n ince aul the Laurentian basin, across the Grand t Banks basins, through the deeper waters Hawke of the Flemish Pass basin, and into the CTFZ basin arch Orphan basin, where activity is now ht focused, and continuing northward into Cartwrig several basins along the Labrador shelf Labrador and slope (Figs. 1 and 2).7 9-11 Hawke Channel Also present are Paleozoic basins that occupy several large areas on land and the entire Gulf of St. Lawrence, off Newfoundland’s west coast.12 Recent petroleum land sales including the pres- tion and harsh environment character- compared to the Scotian shelf or South- ent 2006 Call for Bids (closing Novem- ize the Labrador Sea. ern Grand Banks margins. ber 2006) have targeted both Mesozoic The Hopedale basin is the southern- The Labrador Sea is an Atlantic-type and Paleozoic basins, with major ex- most rift basin within the Labrador Sea extensional margin, initially part of ploration programs ongoing in the East and is positioned just north of the Or- the intracontinental network of basins Orphan and Laurentian basins.6 7 phan basin, which is an area of current formed during the Mesozoic between The Labrador Mesozoic area (Fig.