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Hydrocarbon Resources
The hydrocarbon resources of New Brunswick include coal, oil, natural
gas, oil shale, and a solid bitumen called albertite. All known hydrocarbon
deposits are located in the Late Devonian-Carboniferous Maritimes Basin,
which underlies the eastern part of the Province. New Brunswick has produced
all five hydrocarbons at some point during its 350 years of mining
history.
Natural gas is now being produced in the Province with the recent discovery
of the McCully Field near Sussex, and oil is again being pumped from the
Stoney Creek Field near Hillsborough.
Objective
The Geological Surveys Branch (GSB) of the Department of Natural
Resources is responsible for all geoscientific aspects of hydrocarbon
resource management in the Province. The key objective of its Hydrocarbon
Resources Program is to promote hydrocarbon exploration.
Activities
Under its Hydrocarbon Resources Program, the GSB:
- conducts fieldwork and produces maps and other publications about
the geological controls on hydrocarbon distribution in the Maritimes
Basin; and
- compiles and manages hydrocarbon databases to help the private
sector explore for oil, natural gas, coal, and oil shale in New
Brunswick.
Current Projects
Each year the Geological Surveys Branch initiates geoscientific field
projects to serve as a basis for mineral and petroleum exploration and
for land-use planning in New Brunswick. Field projects are conducted
under our Bedrock Mapping, Surficial Mapping, Metallic Mineral Deposits,
Industrial Minerals, Hydrocarbon Resources, Geochemistry and Coastal
Mapping programs.
Hydrocarbon Databases
In the past century, the Department of Natural Resources has
accumulated a large body of oil and gas exploration data. Because of the
recent growth in exploration and development activity and the subsequent
increase in the number of requests for information, it has become
necessary to convert all non-confidential exploration, development and
production data into electronic format. Most of the
maps
and reports produced by the branch are available for download, free
of charge. Related metadata information can be accessed from various
searchable
databases.
Seismic Data
A summary of reflection seismic surveys completed
between 1948 and the present focuses on surveys which have yielded deep
bedrock profiles useful for stratigraphic and /or structural
interpretation. The geographic locations of all surveys the details on
availability and format can be accessed from the
publications section. The data
profiles cover in excess of 2500 kilometres onshore and 13,000
kilometres offshore.
Well Data
The
Borehole Catalogue summarizes the data available for 788 wells that
have been drilled in the Maritimes and Fundy basins since 1908. For
more details, please check the
petroleum data page.
Core and Cutting
The Department of Natural Resources maintains a
collection of all
cores and samples taken from oil and
natural gas exploration, bituminous shale exploration, and underground
storage exploration or stratigraphic tests. Records indicate that in
excess of 35,000 metres of core and cuttings representing 240,000 metres
are maintained in storage.
Maps
Presentations
Related Publications
The following is a list of some metallic mineral resource
publications. Further information can be accessed from the
geoscience publications page:
- BOEHNER, R.C., CALDER, J.H., CARTER, D.C., DONOHOE, H.V. (Jr.),
FERGUSON, L., PICKERILL, R.K. and RYAN, R.J. 1986. Carboniferous -
Jurassic sedimentation and tectonics: Minas, Cumberland and Moncton
Basins, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick (Symposium Field Trip). In Basins
of Eastern Canada and Worldwide Analogues Symposium. Atlantic Geoscience
Society with Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists, Inter Union
Commission on the Lithosphere, Atlantic Geoscience Society, Special
Publication, Number 4, 122 p.
- CARTER, D.C. and PICKERILL, R.K. 1985. Lithostratigraphy of the Late
Devonian-Early Carboniferous Horton Group of the Moncton Subbasin,
southern New Brunswick. Maritime Sediments and Atlantic Geology, 21, pp.
11-24.
- CARTER, D.C. and PICKERILL, R.K. 1985. Algal swamp, marginal and
shallow evaporitic lacustrine lithofacies from the Late Devonian-Early
Carboniferous Albert Formation, southeastern New Brunswick, Canada.
Maritime Sediments and Atlantic Geology, 21, pp. 69-86.
- CARTER, D.C. and PICKERILL, R.K. 1985. A review of the Carboniferous
Albert Formation oil shales, New Brunswick. Canadian Petroleum Geology
Bulletin, 33, pp. 261-263.
- HINDS, S.J. and ST. PETER, C.J. 2006. Stratigraphy and structure of
the Moncton subbasin in the Urney-Waterford area, Maritimes Basin, New
Brunswick: implications for the McCully Natural Gas Field. In Geological
Investigations in New Brunswick for 2005. Edited by G.L. Martin, New
Brunswick Department of Natural Resources; Minerals, Policy and Planning
Division, Mineral Resource Report 2006-3, pp. 73-102
- JOHNSON, S. and ST. PETER, C. 2005. Palynological Data for Upper
Devonian-Carboniferous Strata of Southeastern New Brunswick (NTS 11
L/04, 21 H/10, 15, 16 and 21 I/01, 02). OF 2005-6
- LYNCH, G., GILES, P.S., DEBLONDE,C., BARR, S.M., PIPER, D.W., ST.
PETER, C., HETU, R.J., JOHNSON, S.C., PE-PIPER,G., ST-JEAN, R., MURPHY,
J.B., CHANDLER, F.W. and BOEHNER, R.C. 1998. Magdalen Basin NATMAP
onshore geological database. Geological Survey of Canada, Open File
3564.
- MACINTOSH, J.A. and ST. PETER, C.J. 2005. Maritimes Basin thermal
maturation project: Carboniferous organic geochemical (NB_COG) database
for New Brunswick. OF 2005-5, 62 p.
- PARK, A. F. and ST. PETER, C. J. 2005. Deformation of Lower
Carboniferous rocks in the Rosevale to Saint-Joseph area, Albert and
Westmorland counties, southeastern New Brunswick. In Geological
Investigations in New Brunswick for 2004. Edited by G. L. Martin. New
Brusnwick Department of Natural Resources; Minerals, Policy and Planning
Division, Mineral Resource Report 2005-1, pp. 45-98.
- PICKERILL, R.K., CARTER, D. and ST. PETER, C. 1985. Albert Formation
- oil shales, lakes, fans and deltas. In Fredericton 85, Field
Excursions, R.K. Pickerill, C.K. Mawer and L.R. Fyffe (editors).
Geological Association of Canada, Mineralogical Association of Canada,
Excursion 6, 75 p. RAST, N., LUTES, G.G. and ST. PETER, C. 1980.
- SMITH, W.D., ST. PETER, C.J., NAYLOR, R.D., MUKHOPADHYAY, P.K.,
KALKREUTH, W.D., BALL, F.D. and MACAULEY, G. 1991. Composition and
depositional environment of major Eastern Canadian oil shales. In Recent
Advances in Organic Petrology and Geochemistry: A Symposium Honouring
Dr. P. Hacquebard, W. Kalkreuth, R.M. Bustin and A.R. Cameron (editors).
International Journal of Coal Geology, 19, pp. 385-438.
- ST. PETER, C. 1984. Mineralogical and chemical data of Albert
Formation oil shale. New Brunswick Department of Natural Resources,
Mineral Resources Division, Open File Report 84-4, 228 p.
- ST. PETER, C. 1987. Geotectonic evolution of the late Paleozoic
Maritimes Basin. New Brunswick Department of Natural Resources and
Energy, Minerals and Energy Division, Open File Report 87-14, 129 p.
- ST. PETER, C. 1987. Catalogue of well data for boreholes in southern
and eastern New Brunswick. New Brunswick Department of Natural Resources
and Energy, Minerals and Energy Division, Open File Report 87-15, 336 p.
- ST. PETER, C. 1988. Assessment of potential sites of recoverable oil
shale in New Brunswick. New Brunswick Department of Natural Resources
and Energy, Minerals and Energy Division, Geoscience Report 88-2, 70 p.
- ST. PETER, C. 1993. Maritimes Basin evolution: key geologic and
seismic evidence from the Moncton Subbasin of New Brunswick. Atlantic
Geology, 29, pp. 233-270.
- ST. PETER C. 2000. Oil shale and oil and natural gas in New
Brunswick: historical and current industry-related activities. New
Brunswick Department of Natural Resources and Energy, Minerals and
Energy Division, Information Circular 2000-5, 16 p.
- ST. PETER, C. 2000. Catalogue of well data for boreholes in the
Maritimes Basin and Fundy Subbasin, New Brunswick. New Brunswick
Department of Natural Resources and Energy, Minerals and Energy
Division, Open File Report 2000-5, 235 p.
- ST. PETER, C. 2001. Petroleum Geology in the Carboniferous of
Southeastern New Brunswick. In Guidebook to Field Trips in New Brunswick
and Eastern Maine. New England Intercollegiate Geological Conference,
93rd Annual Meeting. R. Pickerill and D. Lentz (editors). University of
New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick, pp. A4 1-30.
- ST. PETER, C. and JOHNSON, S.C. 1997. Maritimes Basin Project.
Carboniferous Geology of Southeastern New Brunswick: NATMAP Field Trip
Guidebook, 1997. New Brunswick Department of Natural Resources and
Energy, Minerals and Energy Division, 58 p.
- ST. PETER, C. and PHILLIPS, R. 2000. Reflection seismic coverage of
onshore and offshore New Brunswick, 1948-1999. New Brunswick Department
of Natural Resources and Energy, Minerals and Energy Division, Open File
Report 2000-7, 40 p.
- ST. PETER, C., JOHNSON, S.C, DEBLONDE, C. and LYNCH, G. 1997.
Compilation map, geology, west central Nova Scotia, southeastern New
Brunswick and western Prince Edward Island. Geological Survey of Canada,
Open File 3521.
- ST. PETER, C.J. 2006. Geological relationship between the Cocagne
Subbasin and Indian Mountain Deformed Zone, Maritimes Basin, New
Brunswick. In Geological Investigationsin New Brunswick for 2005. Edited
by G.L. Martin. New Brunswick Department of Natural Resources; Minerals,
Policy and Planning Division, Mineral Resource Report 2006-3, pp.
103-183
For additional information, please contact
steven.hinds@gnb.ca
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