Scotian Shelf

Norman W. Miller

The Scotian Shelf has demonstrated its potential to become a significant supplier of natural gas to North American markets within the next decade. Exploration to date has resulted in the discovery of approximately 5 trillion ft³ of recoverable natural gas reserves and more than 100 million bbl of associated natural gas liquids. Numerous additional attractive prospects remain to be explored, each with the potential for adding hundreds of billions of cubic feet to the reserves inventory. These prospects include objectives in both the normally pressured upper Mississauga sands and in the deep overpressured MicMac/Verrill Canyon formations.

The quantity and quality of gas reserves already found, the shallow water and ice-free operating environment, and the proximity of the basin to the huge gas markets in the northeastern United States make Scotian Shelf reserves a sure bet for development in the 1990s. Once production from the main pools is onstream, it will be financially attractive to explore for and develop numerous smaller satellite prospects which could add cumulatively significant reserves and production over the life of the basin. Ultimate recoverable gas reserves for the area are expected to exceed 10 trillion ft³ and may approach 15 trillion ft³.

Scotian Shelf oil potential cannot be overlooked, as evidenced by recent discoveries of small reserves of premium-quality oil in highly prolific reservoirs. Low-cost early development of these reserves is expected to lead to exploration and development of additional oil prospects along the Sable subbasin margin.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91030©1988 AAPG Annual Convention, Houston, Texas, 20-23 March 1988.