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Within the Fort Norman part of the Mackenzie Basin there are many pronounced folds. Owing to the fact that the soft Cretaceous beds are largely concealed by muskeg in the inter-stream areas and that Middle Devonian lime- stone resists erosion more effectively, only such folds as expose a core of Middle Devonian or older strata are known. The Cretaceous beds, however, are folded, and there is good reason to expect that suitable oil structures may be found in areas underlain by these rocks.

There is no doubt that reservoir rocks are present in all stiatigraphic groups from the Silurian to the Cretaceous. In the Silurian strata there are very massive, cavernous beds, in places somewhat bituminous, that are highly porous. The Upper Devonian Bosworth formation over- lying the Fort Creek shales contains many sandstone beds that could, under favourable structural conditions, act as reservoir beds for oil and gas. The Cretaceous, also, has a considerable thickness of sandstones in its lower part. These features, together with favourable structures observed in an area where seepages give abundant evidence of oil, point to the Mackenzie basin as the most favourable pros- pecting territory in Canada.

The area of the oilfield at Norman Wells has been fairly well outlined by drilling, and a very considerable part of the field of over 4,000 acres will probably prove productive.

A considerable part of this area is under the Mackenzie River.

So far, the wildcat wells drilled outside the Norman field have failed to find other reserves or favourable indica- tions. However, the Fort Creek shales appear to offer excellent possibilities of discovering other oil-bearing reefs, and Mackenzie Valley, where it is underlain by Upper Devonian strata, should reward further exploration and test drilling. First attention should be given to areas where seepages of petroleum occur; second, to anticlinal structures where erosion has not penetrated deep into the Fort Creek shales; and third, to anticlinal structures with a fairly thick cover of Cretaceous beds.

In the Norman field, prior to 1942, Imperial Oil had drilled eleven wells, four of which were producers. Develop- ment of the field received great impetus as a result of Japan’s entry into the recent war, since Norman Wells was the nearest potential source of an assured supply of motor fuel for military operations in Alaska. Following negotiations between the United States and Canadian Governments, the former entered into a contract with Imperial Oil, Limited, under which that company under- took to drill new wells in an attempt to increase production from the Norman field by more than 3,000 barrels of crude oil per day. This oil was to be transported by pipeline across the Mackenzie Mountains and the Yukon Plateau to Whitehorse, where a refinery was to be erected. The scheme became known as the Canol Project, a more detailed discussion of which appears in a separate section of this report.

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Large-scale development of the field was started in the spring of 1942, and proceeded steadily during the next three years. The total number of wells drilled was in- creased to sixty-seven, of which sixty were productive. As of Match 8, 1945, when drilling operations under the war contract ceased, total production of the field was 1,977,646 barrels of crude oil, of which 1,858,751 barrels were produced under the Canol Project. The average daily output amounted to over 4,000 barrels during the last few months of operation.

When the Japanese threat to the North Pacific Region was removed, economic considerations forced abandonment of the Canol Project. Most of the wells were capped or plugged, and only sufficient oil was produced to meet the needs of the Mackenzie Valley region.

Arctic Red River and Mackenzie River Delta Area.— The area through which the Arctic Red River and the lower part of the Mackenzie River flow is underlain mainly by Cretaceous strata. From the general trend of the structure, there is little doubt that Upper Devonian rocks are present,

and these would be expected to occur under the Cretaceous of this area.

It may be added that the delta of the Mackenzie River itself offers possibilities worth testing. Over much of the area outcrops of bed-rock are lacking, but the age and struc- tural trend of the nearest exposures suggest a great thickness

of sediments, dominantly marine, which may be potential source-beds for petroleum,

Peel and Porcupine Rivers Area——Much of the area around the Peel and Porcupine Rivers, largely unexplored, is believed to be underlain by Paleozoic and Cretaceous beds that are possible source rocks for oil, and that has been subjected to only moderate folding and faulting.

On the lower parts of Wind and Bonnet Plume Rivers, tributaries of the Peel, and for 13 miles along the upper reaches of the Peel River, there is a Tertiary basin overlying Cretaceous rocks. Seepages of oil have been reported from this area, one of which is near the mouth of Hungry Creek 25 miles up Wind River from its junction with the Peel.

Bituminous Sands

In the Athabaska River Valley, bituminous sands, re- ferred to as “tar sands,” outcrop along the river and its tributary streams for 76 miles below and about 42 miles above McMurray,: which is close to Waterways, the north- ern terminus of the Northern Alberta Railways, and about 300 miles by rail north of Edmonton. The rocks (Me- Murray formation) are nearly flatlying and of Lower Cretaceous age. They rest directly on Upper Devonian The McMurray formation has a thickness of 180 to 225 feet, and, as shown by large-scale crossbedding, is a deltaic deposit. The valleys of the Athabaska and its tributaries, the Clearwater, Horse, and Hangingstone Rivers, are cut several hundred feet below general plateau

limestones.