Corridor’s exploration on Anticosti Island will use fracking by Roger Taylor, Business Columnist, November 3, 2014, Chronicle Herald
Nova Scotia may have a ban on high-volume fracking in the province, but that hasn’t stopped Corridor Resources Inc. from using the process in its search for oil and gas elsewhere.
Corridor of Halifax announced Monday that it and its partners are working on the first phase of an exploration program on Anticosti Island, Que., that will eventually use fracking to stimulate three exploratory wells.
The first phase of the drilling program, operated by Petrolia Inc., has resulted in four “core-hole wells” being drilled into the Macasty shale formation found on the island, Corridor CEO Steve Moran told me in a phone interview Monday.
Corridor’s statement indicated company management was encouraged because the core samples obtained from the wells had “positive indications” of the presence of hydrocarbons.
All the core samples have been sent for laboratory analysis.
The Macasty formation is described as being the lateral equivalent of the Utica formation in eastern Ohio.
One or two additional wells are expected to be completed in the next few weeks, according to the Nova Scotia junior oil and gas operation.
Recently appointed to lead Corridor, Moran says the first phase of the exploration program on Anticosti Island consists of drilling 15 to 18 vertical core-hole wells, followed by three horizontal wells with multiple “fracture stimulations.”
Fracture stimulation is another term for fracking, which is cracking the rock formation open by injecting a high-pressure mixture of water, sand and chemicals into the formation, allowing hydrocarbon material trapped inside to be released.
The Anticosti Island exploration program was supposed to have started in May, but changes to government regulations delayed work until July.
The government of Quebec, through its Ressources Quebec affiliate, holds a 35 per cent stake in the partnership, while three private-sector companies — Corridor, Maurel & Prom Quebec Inc. and Petrolia — each have a 21.67 per cent interest.
Most of the equipment will stay on Anticosti Island during the winter, Moran says, and work will pick up again next year. A total of 15 drill sites have been prepared, allowing for quick resumption of operations in the spring.
Corridor indicated it expects the remainder of its drill program will be completed during the summer of 2015.
The results of all the cores will help assess the rock quality and determine the optimal location for the three test wells, says Moran, and the three horizontal test wells will be drilled and fracture stimulated as soon as possible after that.
The resource on Anticosti Island has been estimated to be as much as 35 billion barrels of oil.
The shale deposit has been described as being in the “liquids window,” which means it’s expected to yield a mixture of gas and liquids, including oil, condensate and butane, according to former Corridor chief executive Phillip Knoll in an interview earlier this year.
“These formations absolutely have to be fracture stimulated,” Knoll said at that time. [Emphasis added]
[Refer also to:
“Drilling Deeper,” a massive, 300-page report by energy analyst and B.C. resident David Hughes, finds the boom in tight oil and shale gas plays in the United States will not last long, nor deliver energy independence to that country. … False promises surrounding these extreme hydrocarbons has led to a tempering of investments in renewable energy along with truncated public policy on climate change, explains the energy analyst.hydraulic fracturing. [Emphasis added]