The Search for Oil 15

Petroleum Possibilities

Great interest in the oil possibilities of Northwestern Canada has been
aroused by the discovery of oil some 40 miles north of Fort Norman on the
Mackenzie river by Imperial Oil, Limited, a subsidiary of the Standard Oil
Company of New Jersey. The successful well, known as the Discovery Well,
was brought in on August 25, 1920, at a depth of 783 feet. As no provision had
been made for storage and as transportation is a matter of great difficulty in
that remote region, the well was capped after flowing for half an hour. At Windy
Point on Great Slave lake a ‘dry hole’ was struck.

At Pouce Coupé, in the Peace River district, favourable indications have
caused considerable development work to be done. The Pouce Coupé field
comprises the major portion of the Pouce Coupé river drainage basin. Topo-
graphically, the region represents a dissected plateau, rising gradually to the west,
with elevations of from 2,500 to 3,000 feet above sea level. It is in the vicinity
of the town of Roila, which is reached by auto from Grande Prairie town in
from five to seven hours. <A winter trail is also available from Spirit River.

The plateau is underlain by sandstones and shales of upper cretaceous age.
The main streams flow in deep, narrow valleys emptying into the Peace. Dr.
J. A. Allan, Professor of Geology in the University of Alberta, with the assistance
of Professor A. E. Cameron, has prepared a detailed geological report on the area
under discussion for the Grande Prairie Board of Trade.

Attention was first directed to the field through the discovery of numerous
seepages of high-grade crude oil along both the Pouce Coupé and Kiskatinaw
rivers, which resulted in the acquisition under lease of some three hundred
thousand acres, some seventy thousand acres of which were acquired by Imperial
Oil, Ltd., who immediately undertook development. Their well, commenced
with a 21-in. bore in June, 1921, developed a considerable flow of gas around
1,700 feet. Owing to climatic conditions drilling was suspended at the end of
the season. Geological work in the district has not as yet been carried to a
conclusion satisfactory to the company.

Oil rights in this field are granted under the liberal provisions of the old
regulations, the later and more stringent regulations recently introduced applying
only to the Northwest Territories. A large amount of British, American and
Eastern Canadian capital has become interested in the Pouce Coupé field and
development on a large scale is in prospect for the year 1922.

The field is easily accessible, machinery being shipped vza the E. D. & B. C.
railway to Grande Prairie and thence by auto trucks and tractors to the scene
of operations, a distance of from 70 to 100 miles by road. An extension of the
railway from Grande Prairie west, being undertaken in 1922, will further simplify
transportation problems.

Fur

Since the feet of the white man first trod this district, it has been a con-
tinual source of wealth in fur and game. Over one hundred years ago the
Northwest Company and the Hudson’s Bay Company were rivals for the trade,