Delivering information about Ontario’s oil, natural gas, and salt industries is the purpose of the OGSR Library. Receiving detailed information about the Paleozoic bedrock in a way that is convenient to you, the user, has never been more important. The Library is always seeking to improve information delivery. Every year, the Library has been fortunate to expand its data holding and delivery capacity to improve how users find insights.

Nearly all data submitted by operators through section 13 of the Provincial Operation Standards becomes available through the OGSR Library. This includes drilling and completion forms for petroleum wells, well plugging reports, and annual reporting that includes well status and production. These data have always been available in the library and for many years as scans and digital tabular data. Most of this data is available through our well card search portal. Other reporting can be found on our downloads page or publications page and additional annual reporting, like injection and disposal, can be found on our production page. Most submissions that can be released are already available via ogsrlibrary.com.

The most priceless and unique holdings of the OGSR Library are without a doubt the rock cores, rock cuttings, and related geological data gathered by our Ontario operators. Rock samples are more difficult to deliver online, but a large catalogue of imaging is available to help. Over 23,000 images of rocks from all over Ontario are available digitally and OGSR Library geologists have highlighted below how they use the data. This is not an ideal substitute for those who like to test the rocks, but it is available to help you spot trends and samples to test when you visit the library next.

Making information available spatially is a large part of how the OGSR Library improves data for our users. All GIS, mapping and search services are available to our users remotely. Anyone wishing to have views of petroleum wells, petroleum pools, geophysical logs, and geological data can use our PxTools KML overlays for Google Earth to get instant access. Users that want querying capabilities but don’t have a GIS system can check out QGIS, OGSR Library staff are using this tool to work remotely and are available to help you get running in this environment.

A new layer for GIS users is available that combines our complete rock imaging catalogue with spatial information from wells, see figure 1 below. This free download for all newsletter subscribers will help you find locations where rock imaging is available.

As most of us have experienced over the past month, there are certain challenges to working remotely, away from our regular workspace. Fortunately, the OGSR library has a few tips and tools that can help with some of these problems. I will share with you a personal success story on how you can still accomplish geological work away from the rocks. 

As part of Phase 2 for the 3D Geological and Hydrogeological modeling of Southern Ontario, I have been performing Quality Control and Assurance on geological unit top picks for the Blue Mountain Formation, its lower Rouge River member and the underlying Trenton Group (Cobourg Formation or Collingwood Member). Historically, the Rouge River has been misidentified as the Collingwood Member, where there is a downward gradation from grey to greenish-grey shales to a very dark grey-black non-calcareous shale. Unfortunately, this creates confusion when trying to find the ‘true’ Collingwood, which is an impure limestone with high organic content.

A major challenge performing geological work away from the library, is not being able to physically examine the cores or examine the rock samples under the microscope. Fortunately, the OGSRL has a vast catalogue of photographs, which include high resolution photos of 20,000 core, 2,000 rock chip samples and 1,000 sample trays. The other week, I was examining a unit top pick for the Rouge River Member from well T006120. While the well’s core was available at the library, it unfortunately had not yet been photographed, the well’s rock samples, however, had been! Using the OGSRL’s latest Google Earth sample chip microscope KML layer (located in OGSR Library PXTool-> Geological Imaging -> Microscope Chip Photos), I was able to view all the oil and gas wells microscope photographs of rock samples. There are three different photo resolutions for the viewer to choose from, with labels indicating the sample interval and photo magnification (usually 10X). In my particular situation, using the  rock sample chip photos in conjunction with the well’s geophysical logs, helped identify the top of the Rouge River Member (See photo below).

While working away from the physical rocks has it challenges for this research project, the OGSRL has provided some innovative solutions to help continue the work need to complete Phase 2 of the 3D model. I encourage others to heck out our online PXTools and if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact us - we will be happy to help!

Pictured: Screen image of Google Earth Pro using our Chip Sample Microscopy KML layer (OGSRL PXTools). 

Working from home has definitely been a learning curve and is a true test to communication skills and discipline. The Library closed its doors a little over 2 weeks ago, but it feels like longer. During those two weeks the Library has continued on with projects and reports and has adapted to unforeseen circumstances. Who knew that viewing logs would cause problems?

Some of the work that I have been doing is digitizing logs. Without access to our usual programs, we have to improvise. Free softwares like Inkscape and GIMP have helped us succeed in compiling diagrams for future reports. Mapping is being completed through QGIS, databases updated remotely. Conference Zoom meetings, emails and Slack messages are constant. We've had to adapt and plan for EPEX 2020 (more news to come!). 

The library has been working tirelessly to make sure that our information is available and accessible to the public. The resilience is unmatched - if you are looking for information, we will make sure you get it. 

If anything, this time has taught us to be grateful for the little things, and to stop and slow down. Think of things in geologic time for a change - it takes thousands of years for things to deposit, erode, and reform. The flow of a river has enough power to make a valley. Right now let's take things one day at a time.

We're all in this together. 

Our GIS technical team in the library also contributed knowledge to this report. A validated core analysis database is being created with each porosity/permeability parameter plotted vertically with stratigraphic columns. Isopach maps of the recognized permeable units and depth maps of each formational top will be created in ArcGIS in the upcoming season.

All of the core analysis data are derived from the deeper subsurface of southwestern Ontario and represent the intermediate brackish to saline sulphur water, and deep brine regimes. The inter-pinnacle facies within the Guelph Formation shows high porosity and permeability values due to its paleokarstic nature. In the deep regime, the high porosity and permeability of the upper Guelph Formation within pinnacle structures have formed either oil and natural gas reservoirs or saline water-bearing zones. In western Lake Erie, both the karstic top of the Guelph Formation and the overlying A-1 Carbonate have variably permeable continuities. The newly compiled and plotted data reveal that in the subsurface, the porosity/permeability values are largely controlled by variations in carbonate lithofacies, diagenetic destruction or enhancement and existence of paleokarst systems. Interplay of tectophases and forebulge migration episodes and resultant differential erosion of the carbonates have influenced the porosity and permeability changes from Lake Erie across southwestern Ontario into Lake Huron. 

Figure: examples of porosity and permeability changes in two depositional regimes. The top figure shows an example well within the pinnacle structure in Lambton County and the bottom one represents a well in western Lake Erie. 

Working from home comes with certain challenges but the OGSR Library is here to help you with some tools that can help improve your workflow, especially if you’re looking at geological data. I’ve been using these tools to help me complete Geology project from home.

As part of the second revision of the 3-D model, I’ve been conducting Quality Assurance and Control (QA/QC) of the Lockport Group focussing on wells that are East of the Arch with water shows. The new geologic picks will provide a refined and more accurate three-dimensional representation of the formations within the Lockport Group.

The most reliable way of picking formation top depth is by using geophysical logs (gamma ray and neutron logs) which can be easily accessible through the Library’s website for members and for the general public (for a fee). Clastic and evaporitic formation top picks can be easily identified in geophysical logs when conducting QA/QC review. 

Carbonate deposits, however, are sometimes hard to identify by simply looking at geophysical logs. To help with that, the Library has an extensive database of photographs which include photos of 20,000 cores, 2,000 rock chip samples and 1,000 sample trays that can all be used as reference when picking formation top depth or when analyzing geological data. Additionally, the Library also has updated its Google Earth Sample Chip Microscope KLM Layer which shows high resolution photos and the geographic distribution of the rock chips samples photographed.

Despite all the challenges that comes with completing geological work remotely, the Library’s support has provided me with the necessary tools to my continue research project in support of the 3-D model of Southern Ontario. If you have any questions on how to use our Google Earth KML Layer or on how to access our other services, please do not hesitate to contact us.