Alberta Geological Survey

Gas Production from the Cardium

Gas produchon from the Cardium is concentrated in southwestern Alberta adjacent to the disturbed belt. As well, minor gas production occurs in western Saskatchewan. Included are fields producing from the Cardium in Alberta and the St Walburg Sand in Saskatchewan.

There are 12 Cardiurn gas fields with Initial Established Marketable Gas Reserves of over 1000 x 10⁶m³ (35 BCF). The ten largest Cardium gas fields, listed in order of Initial Established Marketable gas reserves, are shown in Table l. Cumulative production data for Alberta are updated to the end of 1990.

Table 1. Ten Largest Cardium Gas Fields (in units of 10⁶m³).

Initial Established

No.	Field	Formation	No. of Pools	Marketable Reserves	In-place Volume	Cumulative Production	Discovery Year
1	Pembina	Cardium	5	20,566	113,714	15,165	1953
2	Ferrier	Cardium	26	18,333	34,931	14,431	1956
3	Ricinus	Cardium	49	16,538	22,441	2,303	1968
4	Willesden Green	Cardium	8	5,946	24,743	3,388	1962
5	Minehead	Cardium	6	3,390	5,644	277	1965
6	Ansell	Cardium	8	3,076	14,910	393	1976
7	Kakwa	Cardium	6	2,878	4,423	178	1978
8	Caroline	Cardium	10	2,654	8,070	1,413	1965
9	Edson	Cardium	12	2,025	4,124	1,081	1963
10	Hanlan	Cardium	5	1,263	1,642	0	1969

Much of the gas produchon from the Cardium is closely associated with oil produchon, with both often being produced from the same field.

Total recoverable gas reserves in the Cardium are estimated at 88.3 x 10⁹m³, of which 30.8 x 10⁹m³ have already been produced. Initial Established In-Place Volume of Cardium gas reserves totals 263 x 10⁹m³. There are a total of 289 Cardium gas pools, with an average 305 x l0⁶m³ recoverable gas reserves/pool. Table 2 lists the distribution of Cardium gas reserves according to In-Place Pool Size.

Table 2 - Distribution of Cardium Gas Pools (in units of 10⁶m³)

In-Place Pool Size Class	No. of Pools	Recoverable Reserves	Cumulative Production
1.0 to 10	8	28	5
10 to 100	134	3,977	572
100 to 1000	124	20,465	2,338
1000 to 10000	18	16,728	3,711
over 10000	5	47,087	24,148
Total	289	88,285 x 106m3	30,774 x 106m3