A quick lesson in horizontal drilling in the Cardium Formation of Alberta. We drive by these pump jacks every day, but did you ever wonder why there are so many at one place? Just west of the Earthcache is Big Hill Springs Provincial Park, a great place for a short hike!! Enjoy!!
This cache is placed for the Dog Pound FUN Raiser Event 2 held on October 21, 2017 at the Water Valley Saloon. I prefer that it not be logged before 10 AM on October 21, 2017.
The Cardium Formation was deposited during the Late Cretaceous along the western edge of the Alberta Foreland Basin. It extends northward from the Canada-United States border to northeastern British Columbia near Dawson Creek, and eastward from the foothills of the Canadian Rockies into the plains of southern and central Alberta. Beyond there, the sandstones grade into shale. Thickness of Cardium sand varies between 5 and 30 meters.
At this location, the sand is about 10m thick, 2300m below the surface, and is oil bearing. A typical vertical oil well is only exposed to the 10m, but by turning the well and drilling horizontal, the wellbore can be exposed to over a kilometer of reservoir! Horizontal drilling increases the production. By placing several horizontals at one location (pad – see 3D diagram below), even more reservoir is exposed to production, while minimizing the surface footprint.
From the map below, you can see how many Cardium wells are in the area, and how the surface configuration is minimized. It is hard to image all these horizontal wells around you while hiking at Big Hill Springs Park!!
To log this Earthcache, you must email the CO the answers to the following questions:
1) What is the surface location of the pad at the given coordinates?
2) What are the downhole locations of the “toes” of the various horizontals?
3) How many horizontals are from this pad?
4) How many strokes/minute are the pump jacks pumping at, to lift the oil?