Overview

The Sturgeon Lake and Sturgeon Lake South Fields produce from the updip stratigraphic closure of dolomitized reefal carbonates of the Leduc Formation.  The Sturgeon reef is located in the north western portion of the Alberta Basin and sits on a portion of the Beaverhill Lake platform detached from the regional platform which underlies other Leduc age reefs to the south west.

Within the Sturgeon Lake reef complex five major cycles have been identified made up of a predictable array of depositional facies that have varying reservoir characteristics.  Individual cycles average a maximum of 15 to 20 metres in thickness.  The cycles are separated by apparent deepening events which are indicated by the superimposing of deeper water facies over shallow water sequences.  Each of these cycles has somewhat different facies distribution that will affect the ultimate recovery within the reservoirs.

The study area is located in west central Alberta from Townships 67 to 72 and between Ranges 21W5 and 26W5.  At the time of the study all Leduc penetrations were included to form a 350 well database and cored intervals from 118 wells (2,190 metres) were described at the AEUB Core Research Centre.  Additionally, 48 petrographic thin sections were taken to determine the diagenetic sequence of events affecting the Sturgeon reef, and the relative importance of porosity types and cements.

Click globe for map of study area.

• fully illustrated text (111 pages, 90 colour and B&W figures) documenting stratigraphy, depositional facies, geologic evolution, petrology, exploration potential, core descriptions, and database;
• 31 stratigraphic cross sections (17 dip & 14 strike);
• 31 structural cross sections (17 dip & 14 strike);
• 25 maps, including isopach, structure, facies, and porous carbonate at 1:25,000 and 1:50,000 scales;
• 350 well database with 26 stratigraphic picks from Top Wabamun Grp. to Base Slave Point Fm.;
• core descriptions for 118 cored wells with internally consistent correlations;
• analyses from 48 petrographic thin sections.