Sedimentology and Reservoir Characterisation of Specific Play Types in the McMurray Formation, Northeastern Alberta: Implications for In-Situ Recovery

The depositional setting of the McMurray Formation within the main McMurray fairway has been extensively studied by geologists and is well documented in the literature. Most provincial crown land in the easternmost part of the Athabasca Oil Sands Deposit (AOSD) has been leased, and is currently being drilled and geologically characterised with the aim of in-situ or mining bitumen extraction, mostly from reservoir channel sand bodies. There are, however, new plays being discovered in the northwestern part of the AOSD, notably in the Ells and Dover areas that represent different depositional environments. Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. (AOSC) is a private oil sands company that holds extensive oil sands assets in this western region of Athabasca (Fig. 1), where it has discovered thick bitumen pay within the McMurray Formation. Other major companies holding rich bitumen leases close-by include the tripartite partnership of Chevron Canada Limited, Shell Canada Limited and Marathon (formerly Western Oil Sands Inc.), as well as TOTAL E&P Canada, and land brokers holding lands for undisclosed clients. Chevron has claimed as much as 7.5 billion barrels of bitumen in-place on their leases which may be exploitable by in-situ SAGD methods1. Across its leases in the Dover area, AOSC has extensive in-place volumes of bitumen, and plans to develop a 2,000 bpd in-situ thermal pilot in 2010, followed by 25,000 to 30,000 bpd tranches commencing 20142. Depositional environments of the McMurray Formation in this region contrast significantly to those reservoirs located within the main fairway to the east. This presentation aims at describing the sedimentology and reservoir characterisation of a small area of the AOSC properties and will compare the reservoir types associated with this new play area to those more traditional channel sand plays found further to the east