Overview

The Goose River Beaverhill Lake “A” Pool is one of a number of large atoll reef buildups in the subsurface of West Central Alberta.  It produces hydrocarbons from original limestone porosity primarily from margin-related buildup sediments.

This study provides a detailed understanding of the Goose River  BHL ‘A’ Pool through the examination of all available core and well control and recognizes the role of a preceding platform high in localizing the reef complex.  Porosity developed in the platform margins of a number of backstepped platform terraces constitutes a new interpretation of what was previously assigned to this reservoir unit.  This new interpretation permits an understanding of individual porosity developments and their trend.

The Goose River buildup has been divided into a number of discrete platform (P1 to P5) and reef cycles (R1 to R5) with each cycle displaying a somewhat different distribution of depositional facies with varying degrees of interconnectedness.  Because reservoir quality at Goose River can be related directly to depositional attributes, the understanding of the cycle and facies architecture of the buildup leads directly to a three-dimensional appreciation of reservoir quality and continuity.

The study area is located within Townships 66 and 67, between Ranges 18W5 and 19W5.  The study utilized a database of 81 wells (20 stratigraphic picks), and cored intervals from 63 wells (more than 2,800 metres) were described.

Click globe for map of study area.

• fully illustrated text (64 pages, plus 82 colour and B&W figures and 7 colour plates) documenting stratigraphy, depositional facies, geologic evolution, core descriptions, and database;
• 20 stratigraphic cross sections;
• 22 maps, including structure, isopach, net Phi H, and reservoir pore volume at 1:15,000 scale;
• 63 well database with 20 stratigraphic picks from Top Beaverhill Lake to Top Fort Vermilion Fm., including 5 platform and 5 reef cycle picks;
• 81 well database in both hardcopy and digital format;
• core descriptions for 63 cored wells with internally consistent correlations;