| OGSR Wireline By OGSR Library October 2017 |
Hi ,
Welcome to the fourth and final quarterly edition of OGSR Wireline 2017. This
month we are pleased to welcome Union Gas to our list of authors with their submission of the Dawn Storage feature, paired with some interesting statistics from Matt. Also in this quarterly, some important updates from Liz regarding upcoming events and highlights from Jordan, Maia and Brenna regarding recently completed projects.
Let us know if you have any requests for future articles, and in the meantime,
Keep exploring,
OGSR Library Team Jordan, Liz, Matt, Maia &
Brenna |
What
to expect from this years GIS Open House, November 17th
| Dawn Storage: 75 years for growth and innovation It's an anniversary worth celebrating
by Union
Gas
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Natural Gas Storage and Cavern Storage Statistics A quick look at storage statistics
Summer Student Update
by Jordan
| Monthly Drilling Report - September 2017 by OGSR Library Team |
Continue Reading for Full Stories
Have You Mapped Today? What to expect from this years GIS Open House Liz Sutherland
GIS Day is an annually held, international event that is used as a forum for users of geographic information systems (GIS) to showcase how real-world GIS applications are being used. The OGSR Library held their first GIS Open House in 2016, to highlight the use of mapping in geology. Inviting community partners to attend and provide their own demonstrations created an Open
House ripe with state-of-the-art technologies. Over 50 people attended from all around London, with a total of 5 industry partners providing demonstrations ranging from UAV's and Virtual Reality to online mapping and mineral displays.
Our goal with this year's event is to educate - through demonstrations, GIS tutorials, prizes and activities! The event is meant to bring together
people of all ages and all levels of GIS education. Displays for this years event currently include the following:
1. Ministry of Natural Resources & Forestry
2. Ministry of Transportation, ArcGIS Online Demonstration
3. QGIS Tutorials (offered throughout the
day)
4. Ontario Core Display & Microscope Demonstration
5. Fluorescence, Fossils & Minerals
6. OGSR Library
7. Thames Valley Conservation Authority, Virtual Reality Sandbox (TBD)
8. Western Geography
Remote Sensing Booth
9. City of London, Virtual Reality Demonstration
The event will also feature:
- "Have you mapped today?" Tumblers
- Custom map button-making station
- OGSR Library scale
cards
- All-day coffee, tea and refreshments
- Pizza Lunch served at 12:00 PM
Save the date for this year's GIS Open House!
November 17th, 10AM-3PM at 669 Exeter Rd
Email [email protected] to find out how you can be involved! Some of the highlights from 2016's GIS Open House: Josh Laughton's Mineral collection (top), the GIS hall with MNRF and OGSR (middle), MOECC's UAV demonstration (bottom). Want to attend more events? Petroleum Operations Section is holding an Industry Open House November 16th, all are welcome Dawn Storage: 75 years for growth and innovation It's
an anniversary worth celebrating Union Gas Seventy-five years ago, Union Gas pioneered the use of underground storage for natural gas in Ontario – a critical but largely unheralded innovation that to this day ensures Ontarians have a reliable source of affordable energy to get through cold
winters. Before storage was developed, the province’s natural gas industry was operating on borrowed time. It relied wholly on declining domestic supply, but as an affordable energy
source it was in high demand. Demand quickly began to outpace supply. Shortages were first felt during the cold winter of 1918, prompting the provincial government to restrict the use of natural gas for industries in favour of residential consumers. Despite this, shortages continued into the 1920s and on severely cold winter days, residents of cities such as Sarnia, Windsor and Chatham went without natural gas to heat their homes.
It was clear
that new sources of supply were needed, but the high cost of exploration and development convinced many energy companies to stop drilling and instead focus on energy conservation. Union Gas, however, was determined to find a way to ensure Ontario would get the energy it needed and by the mid-1920s the company had increased its exploration and discovery efforts.
Those efforts paid off in 1931 with the discovery of two large
natural gas wells in Dawn Township, near Sarnia, sparking a period of growth for the province, the natural gas industry and Union Gas. Over the next decade, more and more Ontarians began to use natural gas as service extended into new communities. At the same time, the growing popularity of natural gas as an affordable choice for home heating and more efficient automatic natural gas hot-water heaters and individual room heaters drove increased consumption. Concerns about supply remained,
however, because while supply had continued to increase, growth had come through existing, rather than new, natural gas fields. It was becoming increasingly clear new solutions were needed.
In 1937, Union Gas hired Dr. Charles S. Evans to become the company’s first full-time geologist. Evans, who would become one of Eastern Canada’s leading geologists during his 25 years at Union Gas, directed the company’s exploration and discovery program. He
would also play a pivotal role in the development of a game-changing innovation for Ontario’s natural gas industry -- underground storage.
In 1938, Evans proposed using depleted natural gas reservoirs in the company’s Dawn gas field for underground storage. This was not a new concept. Originally tested in 1915, the first operational underground storage site had opened in New York in 1916. In fact, at the time Evans was writing his proposal, the
United States had more than 50 storage pools in 10 different states. Evans knew this. He also knew the geology of Lambton County, and was adamant that the pinnacle reef formations near Dawn Township – domes of porous limestone covered with impervious rock – would be ideal for natural gas storage.
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By 1940, Ontario’s natural gas industry was in full-blown crisis. Consumer demand for natural gas was at an all-time high, while production had dropped to new lows. It was clear the province needed to find new sources of supply. Early in 1941, Union Gas president Sydney Morse contracted two different engineering firms to test Evans’ underground storage proposal. Both firms agreed it would be feasible to inject natural
gas into Dawn’s depleted reservoirs and – most importantly – ensure that no gas would be lost when withdrawing it.
On Oct. 28, 1942, natural gas was injected into a depleted reservoir at Dawn, marking the birth of Canada’s first commercially successful underground storage. Union Gas could now store natural gas during the summer for use during cold winter months when demand was at its highest, alleviating concerns over winter shortfalls and
restoring consumer faith in natural gas to heat their homes. The growth of new underground storage in Ontario continued in June of 1964 as Tecumseh Gas Storage, now wholly owned by Enbridge Gas Distribution, was developed in Moore, Ontario.
The development of underground storage at Dawn 75 years ago also opened the door to natural gas imports from the United States and Western Canada, ensuring security of cost-effective supply for Ontarians well
into the 21st century and helping to create the reliable system we count on today.
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Natural Gas Storage and Cavern Storage Statistics by Matt |
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A natural gas storage well is a well used for injection or withdrawal of natural gas to or from storage in a reservoir.
In Ontario 35 pools are designated as natural gas storage reservoirs with a total well count of 270. Total working storage capacity is approximately 7.3 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas.
In the last five years, four natural gas storage wells have been drilled to total
depth. The average age of operating natural gas storage wells is 34 years.
A Cavern Storage well is a well used for injection or withdrawal of fluids (hydrocarbons or brine) in a solution-mined storage cavern.
Storage caverns are solution mined voids in salt beds that are used to hold petroleum products like ethane, methane, propane, butane, acetone, butylene, isobutylene, ethylene, propylene, pentanes/hexanes, oil, fuel gas, NGL mix, spec LPG,
LPG mixture, iso-butane and other similar products.
Ontario has 73 storage caverns with 102 storage cavern wells, with a maximum storage capacity of 3,468,000 m3. The last cavern storage well drilled to total depth was in 2003. The average age of cavern storage wells currently in operation is approximately 43 years. |
OGSR Library Geology Update by Maia
Geology & Special Projects
Many new projects were completed by the OGSR Library staff since the summer. These projects have been completed by geologists and summer students at the OSSRL in collaboration with the Ontario Geologic Society (OGS), Geologic Society of Canada (GSC) as well as the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF). The results of these projects have updated our database and resources to increase
the integrity of the data and information we provide to the public.
In June a mini-project investigated the subsurface distribution of quartzose sands in the Lower to Middle Devonian Strata of Southwestern Ontario. Over 800 formation picks were added or revised in OPDS in the investigation of the Columbus, Oriskany, Springvale and Sylvania sandstones. The open file report , documenting the results of this project is now publicly available for
download:
Quartzose sands in the Lower to Middle Devonian strata of southwestern Ontario: geographic distribution and characterization in drill cuttings and geophysical logs
The preliminary stages of the Salina group salt revisions have been completed as part of an OGSR Library special summer project. The scope of this project will be used to better delineate the dissolution of the D, F, B, and A1 Salina group salt boundaries most recently mapped by Sanford in 1977. Documentation of
individual unit descriptions, microscope photos and common misidentifications were completed this summer. This material will be used as a foundation for the next stage in the boundary revisions which will entail close examination of OGSRL drill cuttings within and outside of Sanford mapped salt extents. Updated salt front maps produced from this project will provide new insight on dissolution and how it may have impacted overlying strata, and enabled the formation of structural domes capable of
trapping and storing hydrocarbons. For more information on what was completed this summer, see student article by Ryan Keen.
The subcrop boundaries revision project, funded by the OGS, has been completed as of mid-September. The project built upon the new boundary lines derived from a 2016 project funded by the MNRF, and works towards the extension of the surficial bedrock boundaries through Lake Huron to Michigan bedrock geology. Revisions to on- and off- shore
Lake Erie subcrop boundaries were made with a focus on delineating escarpment margins of the lower Devonian and upper Salina formations. This resulted in 68 new top picks entered into Ontario’s Petroleum Data Systems detailed descriptions of the Onondaga formation of the middle Devonian strata. The subcrop boundaries were extended using the GSC Map 1335a, giving higher reliability of boundaries extending through much of Lake Huron and Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario. These lines will build upon past
work completed by the OGS, GSC, MNRF. The new boundary lines will also be incorporated into the updated 3D Hydrostratigraphy model.
The most recent work on the Hydrostratigraphy project, funded by the GSC, began August 2016 and was recently completed in
September 2017 as part of the 3D Geological and Hydrogeological Modelling project. The project reviewed 63 bedrock formations with a total of 890 wells checked for anomalies and entered or revised in OPDS. The results of this project have been reviewed and analyzed to aid in the creation of an updated version of the 3D Model which is currently in progress. The outcome of the modelling will support future of natural resource extraction, waste disposal, and research involving the pathways and
movement of meteoric water and its distribution in Southern Ontario. Further information on the Hydrostratgraphy project and 3D modelling can be found in the recently published open file report
Drill Cutting & Core
Photography
Drill core photography has been underway for two summers now! The OGSRL have been photographing high resolution images of cores stored in our warehouse, both wet and dry, under white light, as well as dry core under ultra-violet light. Thanks to the diligent work of our 2017 summer students we have completed over 600 high resolution core photographs this year, see KML download
below.    This year the OGSRL also began new projects photographing so me of the drill cuttings stored in our warehouse. Photographs of individual drill cuttings began early this year using an OMAX Trinocular Stereo Microscope and 19MP Camera. A new project to photograph full drill-cutting sample trays recently began, photographing high resolution images of sample trays under white and ultra-violet light, as well as a top lid identification photo to see the depth
each sample was taken at (see figure below). These two projects were combined and funded by the OGS to image a large amount of the drill cutting samples through high resolution microscope and tray photography. A total of 960 microscope drill-cutting photos and 264 drill-cutting and chip tray photos were completed by September 2017! The photography here at the library will be used as an aid for future geology projects or anyone interested in getting a closer look at our samples housed here in the
library. Imaging project are also used as a very effective method of quality control and organization of the cuttings and cores in our warehouse.Sanford Scanning Project By Brenna
Earlier this year we completed the Sanford Scanning Project. This has led to the digitization of 43,671 historic well pages. It contains historic records from the 1850’s onwards to the 1960’s. The well information has already come into use before being sorted through to match existing wells. It has helped to provide information for sample trays with drill cuttings that were not associated with any known well. The scans have also been used to provide details to
miscellaneous documents found which have led to the creation of wells in our database. There were 440 maps found within these files and 302 of those will be referenced to provide location information of some historic wells. There are still many mysteries to be held within these files so stay tuned for more findings! September 2017
New Licences Issued | Licence No. | Licence Date | Operator | County | Township | Status | TD (m) | | T012537 | 2017-09-19 | Union Gas Limited | Lambton | Sombra | LIC/NDR |
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New Licences Issued for Existing Wells | Licence No. | Licence Date | Operator | County | Township | Status | TD (m) | | T008475 | 2017-09-06 | ref_118340ffd4d976f2cb4c26e7f6501618 | Norfolk | Townsend | PGP/ACT | 281.3 | | T012386 | 2017-09-26 | ref_49d4a088d1eaf294519d917b1e53bf7e | Welland | Wainfleet | PGP/ACT | 215 | | T012538 | 2017-09-19 | ref_a816f5007a61e700ffef330a542e4c47 | Haldimand | Canborough | PGP/ACT |
| | T012539 | 2017-09-19 | ref_a2a97822d145e6f75d533d8be0d6075e | Haldimand | Rainham | PGP/ACT |
| | T012540 | 2017-09-19 | ref_a2a97822d145e6f75d533d8be0d6075e | Haldimand | Rainham | PGP/ACT |
| | T012541 | 2017-09-19 | ref_dd28b40fd3519f2a9b0b92da9af2dd7c | Wentworth | Binbrook | PGP/ACT |
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Plugged Wells | Licence No. | Plug Date | Operator | County | Township | Status | TD (m) | | T001021 | 2017-08-28 | Anema, Nick | Norfolk | Windham | OSGS/ABD | 1036.62 | | T007292 | 2017-08-23 | Enbridge Gas Distribution Inc. | Lambton | Moore | NGS/ABD | 774 | | T007293 | 2017-08-24 | Enbridge Gas Distribution Inc. | Lambton | Moore | NGS/ABD | 780 | | T007294 | 2017-05-11 | Enbridge Gas Distribution Inc. | Lambton | Moore | NGS/ABD | 784.5 | | T007296 | 2017-08-22 | Enbridge Gas Distribution Inc. | Lambton | Moore | NGS/ABD | 789.5 | | T007487 | 2017-08-21 | Enbridge Gas Distribution Inc. | Lambton | Moore | NGS/ABD | 775 | | T009949 | 2017-09-15 | ref_1b2df9b0f670772fba132a7b0144d46c | Norfolk | North Walsingham | PGP/ABD | 385.88 | | T012512 | 2017-06-30 | ref_5f28229f2282ef91e3977b3dcd898310 | Norfolk | North Walsingham | PGP/ABD | 359.66 |
2017 Pools & Pipelines Map! The 2017 Pools and Pipelines Map is now available for order! View the news release to find out more! This year's map is being sold on styrene plastic paper and
as a folded utility map!
The freshly updated 2017 map includes valuable information including the following: - Oil & Gas 2017 Pool Boundaries and Names
- Cumulative Oil & Gas Production to end of 2016 (most recent submission)
- Inset Maps of Highly Productive Areas
- Great Lakes Bathymetry
- Valuable Industry Contacts and Stratigraphic Succession Chart
- New Layout and Sizing Available!
- New Digital Download Code!
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Summer Summary 2017 By Jordan
The Library was fortunate again this year to have an excellent group of students creating and improving data on Ontario’s subsurface. With eleven staff and students working together on various projects 2017 was likely our most productive year ever. Thank you to all our students, staff,
and clients that were in the Library this summer. Many of our large projects could not have proceeded with the help of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forest, Ontario Geological Survey, and Geological Survey of Canada; we owe them much appreciation.
The students have prepared field summaries of their
work and some of the highlights are listed below. This includes data datasets, improved datasets, and general improvements for users of our facility:
- 600+ core boxes have been photographed
- 700 previously unidentified core boxes have been catalogued (including many from the far north of Ontario)
- 264 Drill cutting trays photographed
- Improved cataloguing of maps
- Updated GeoGeo reports
- Organized
and cataloged books
- Duplicate core catalogue now public on wells cards
- Warehouse mapping
- Archiving and cataloguing of records
- 1000 Microscope photos of drill cuttings
- Geophysical log digitizing
- Updated shapefiles of salt layers
- Devonian Sand open file
- Geology lab refreshed with new lab kits
- Drill cutting catalogue received substantial quality assurance
- Drill core catalogue received substantial quality
assurance
- Library promotions and outreach (catch our upcoming GIS open house)
- Formation subcrop map improved using new well data
- Petroleum pools boundaries improved using new wells data
- Better communication via social media channels
Student Summaries:
Ryann Keen
Working at the Oil, Gas, and Salt Resources Library this past summer has been an amazing journey. It was great to see the attentive and hard-working library staff so dedicated to all aspects of the facility and the many services it provides. I have had the pleasure of working with several of the professionals in their
respective fields of geology and geography. All staff have been a tremendous help while I was working on my individual Sanford Salt Mapping project and other odd jobs around the office. This project required some extensive geology research as well as digitizing of the 1977 Sanford maps using ArcGIS which staff were more than happy to provide guidance with when required. I was able to update several top unit problem picks within the Salina group by analyzing sample cuttings and logs to redefine
the southern Ontario salt boundaries. I then digitized the old salt maps in preparation for future changes when more top picks are confirmed and updated. A solid foundation has been laid down for the future works of this project and I am eager to see its progress. The Library is a second home filled with copious amounts of information, it would be impossible to list it all! I plan to frequently check in with the Library and attend their upcoming GIS Open House. The Library is a great resource I
plan to promote and use in my own future research. I’d like to thank all the staff for welcoming me into the facility and expanding my knowledge in ways I never would have thought of.
Kyle Tan
From looking at all the geologic time periods, one would think time is long and lasting. But it is also brief, and can be summarized onto a simple
sheet of paper. The billions of years of the Earth can be put onto a simple chronostratigraphic chart. Earth's time has gone by in the blink of an eye, so too has my time at the OGSR Library. Three months ago, I rang the bell and walked into the front door the first time as a young, inexperienced, student. After the days and days of positive pressure and weathering I leave here as an experienced diamond. The day in and day out operation may have seemed like a geologic period, but now
looking back it was more like the geologic periods on paper: short, colourful, and educational. I have gained tons of valuable experience both in GIS and life.
In my time here, I’ve helped photograph hundreds of boxes of core that are now available for client viewing on request. Another summer student, Bayden, and I spent many meticulous hours in order to ensure the highest quality in the images. Now, clients
have the opportunity to study core samples on the go, whether it’s at home, in the office, or even in the field! Our overhaul and cataloging of our collection of data sources, such as books, reports, journals, maps, and much more, have made tons of information more accessible and available for people to use. I’ve also started to work on the photography of sample vials of sample cuttings and chips. This is, however, currently a work in progress. Maia has continued the photography, with the
goal to have 900 photos taken and available by the end of the year.
Everyone’s always told me, time flies by quick, savor what you got. I never believed them until now. This summer has been an absolute experience for me, I’ve laughed, I’ve been frustrated, I’ve carried out tasks I never expected to do, but most importantly, I grew, I learned, and I now leave OGSR Library a piece of weathered, and aged rock that’s seen more. Sure, I’ve got a few kinks, but
that’s what makes a rock more interesting. I’ve become a new individual with features and peculiarities that define me as my own formation. |
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What is the OGSR Library?
The Oil, Gas & Salt Resources Library is a not-for-profit corporation that manages all of Ontario's public drilling and production data from the petroleum and solution mined salt industries. This includes processing, storing, and providing safe and convenient access to all of the industry's drill core and
rock cuttings. The Library makes as much of this data as possible available through our online portal to members all over the world. The financial support of the petroleum industry and our membership make this possible.
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