Gas production from the Winterburn Group occurs primarily in west-central Alberta, in northeastern British Columbia and along the unconformity edge of northeastern Alberta.
There are 30 Winterburn gas fields with initial Established Marketable Gas Reserves
of over 1000 x 106m3 (35 BCF). The ten largest Winterburn gas
fields, listed in order of Initial Established Marketable gas reserves, are shown
in Table 1. Cumulative production totals include Alberta and British Columbia data
released to December 31, 1990.
Table 1 - Ten Largest Winterburn Gas Fields (in units of 106m3)
No. |
Field |
Formation |
No. of Pools |
Marketable Reserves |
In-place Volume |
Cumulative Production |
Discovery Year |
| 1 | Brazeau River | Nisku | 27 |
11,644 |
24,019 |
993 |
1977 |
| 2 | Helmet North | Jean Marie | 1 |
5,434 |
6,793 |
624 |
1976 |
| 3 | Pembina | Nisku | 25 |
3,337 |
6,373 |
1,861 |
1976 |
| 4 | Calling Lake | Nisku | 2 |
2,705 |
4,097 |
1,798 |
1964 |
| 5 | Leduc-Woodbend | Nisku | 4 |
2,676 |
6,152 |
2,480 |
1947 |
| 6 | Obed | Nisku | 2 |
2,593 |
5,320 |
88 |
1956 |
| 7 | Figure Lake | Nisku | 22 |
2,522 |
4,076 |
1,844 |
1951 |
| 8 | Fenn-Big Valley | Nisku | 4 |
2,060 |
6,787 |
1,791 |
1952 |
| 9 | Kaybob South | Nisku | 5 |
1,944 |
3,809 |
225 |
1958 |
| 10 | West Pembina | Nisku | 5 |
1,719 |
3,400 |
45 |
1977 |
The Brazeau River, Pembina and West Pembina fields occur in patch reefs along
the southeast margin of the West Pembina Basin area of west-central Alberta. The
Helmet North gas field is in the northeast comer of British Columbia. A number of
smaller Winterburn gas fields are present along the unconformity edge of northeastern
Alberta and include the Calling Lake field. The Leduc-Woodbend and Fenn-Big Valley
gas fields occur as solution gas associated with Winterburn oil fields.
Total recoverable gas reserves in the Winterburn Group are relatively small, compared
to the other Devonian horizons, and are est mated at 66.7 x 109m3,
of which 23.1 x 109m3 (i.e. 35%) have already been produced.
Initial Established In-Place Volume of Winterburn gas reserves totals 132.9 x 109m3.
There are a total of 366 Winterburn gas pools, with an average 182 x 106m3 recoverable gas reserves/pool. Reflecting this smaller average pool size, there are
no pools with in-place volumes of over 10,000 x 106m3. Table
2 lists the distribution of Winterburn gas reserves according to In-Place Pool Size
Table 2 - Size Distribution of Winterburn Gas Pools (in units of 106m3)
In-Place Pool Size Class |
No. of Pools |
Recoverable Reserves |
Cumulative Production |
| 1.0 to 10 | 40 |
122 |
45 |
| 10 to 100 | 153 |
3,829 |
1,010 |
| 100 to 1000 | 150 |
30,980 |
13,694 |
| 1000 to 10000 | 23 |
31,735 |
8,331 |
| over 10000 | - |
- |
- |
| Total | 366 |
66,666 x 106m3 |
23,080 x 106m3 |
Last modified: August 12, 2008
