Well of the Week Selects - Third generation Foothills plays

The next Petro Ninja – Enlighten Geoscience Well of the Week highlights 200/C-078-J-093-P-04/00. This well is an example of a Third Generation play type and is producing gas from the Pardonet - Baldonnel which has produced over 90 bcf of gas.

Third Generation Foothills Plays (Newson, 2001) are characterized by Detachment Fold style structures with significant permeability enhancement due to the associated fracturing. Detachment fold plays begin to dominate the further one traverses to the northwest portion of the Foothills. The Sukunka play also provides early examples of the application of horizontal drilling to exploit a low permeability formation (e. g.200/A-094-G/093-P-04/02). In these days, a decade and a half before multi-stage horizontal fracturing, wells were oriented to maximize contact with natural fracturing.

As with Second Generation Plays, incorporating field data is important to successful interpretation. But the need for good technical work never goes away.

References

Newson, A. C., 2001. The future of natural gas exploration in the Foothills of the Western Canadian Rocky Mountains. The Leading Edge. v. 20, no. 1.