CONVENTIONAL CRUDE-OIL RESOURCES OF THE WESTERN CANADA SEDIMENTARY BASIN

This paper provides estimates of ''in place'' and recoverable conventi onal light and heavy crude oil resources for the Western Canada Sedime ntary Basin. Components of the oil resource base considered are curren tly established reserves, resources available through infill drilling and the application of enhanced recovery techniques in currently estab lished pools, extensions to these pools and new pools, which available geological and statistical information indicates could reasonably be expected to be discovered in the future. The Geological Survey of Cana da (GSC) last made an estimate of Western Canadian conventional light crude oil resources in 1988((1)). Estimates of conventional heavy crud e oil resources have been previously reported in the reports ''Canadia n Energy Supply and Demand'' prepared by staff of the National Energy Board (NEB)((2,3)). Recently, technological progress, and in particula r the application of horizontal drilling, has led to the potential for significant improvements in recovery efficiencies for conventional oi l. This paper reviews and updates the previous resource assessments by NEB staff in Light of the recent technological advances.