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{{Short description|Sedimentary basin of Canada}}
[[Image:Canada geological map-WCSB.JPG|thumb|300px|right|Outline of the Western CanadianCanada Sedimentary Basin]]
The '''Western CanadianCanada Sedimentary Basin''' ('''WCSB''') is a vast [[<ref>https://ags.aer.ca/reports/atlas-western-canada-sedimentary -basin]]</ref><ref>https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsta.1982.0032</ref> underlyingunderlies {{convert|14000001.4|km2e6km2|sqmi}} of [[Western Canada]] including southwestern [[Manitoba]], southern [[Saskatchewan]], [[Alberta]], northeastern [[British Columbia]] and the southwest corner of the [[Northwest Territories]]. ItThis vast [[sedimentary basin]] consists of a massive wedge of [[sedimentary rock]] extending from the [[Rocky Mountains]] in the west to the [[Canadian Shield]] in the east. This wedge is about {{convert|6|km|mi}} thick under the Rocky Mountains, but thins to zero at its eastern margins. The WCSB contains one of the world's largest reserves of [[petroleum]] and [[natural gas]] and supplies much of the [[North America]]n market, producing more than {{convert|1600000000016|cufte9cuft|m3e6m3|abbr=off|order=flip}} per day of gas in 2000. It also has huge reserves of [[coal]]. Of the provinces and territories within the WCSB, Alberta has most of the [[oil]] and [[Natural gas|gas]] reserves and almost all of the [[oil sands]].
 
==Conventional oil==
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| date= 2005
| url = http://www.neb-one.gc.ca/energy/EnergyReports/index_e.htm#Oil
| accessdateaccess-date = 2006-09-25 |archiveurlarchive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060711231505/http://www.neb-one.gc.ca/energy/EnergyReports/index_e.htm#Oil <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archivedatearchive-date = 2006-07-11}}
</ref> and recent development has tended toward natural gas and oil sands rather than conventional oil. In the WCSB, conventional oil is of two different types: [[light crude oil]] and [[heavy crude oil]], each with different costs, prices, and development strategies. Conventional light oil is a mature industry with most of the recoverable [[oil reserves]] already produced and [[Hubbert peak|production declining]] by three to four percent per year. Conventional heavy oil is also past its production peak with a future of [[oil depletion|long-term decline]]. Alberta, which contains most of the reserves, expects its light-medium crude oil production to decline by 42% from 2006 to 2016, while it expects heavy crude production to decrease by 35% over the same period. However, it also expects bitumen and [[synthetic crude]] oil from oil sands will considerably more than offset the decline in conventional crude oil and account for 87% of Alberta oil production by 2016.<ref>
{{cite web
| title = Alberta’sAlberta's Reserves 2006 and Supply/Demand Outlook 2007 to 2016
| publisher = Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board
| date= 2007
| url = http://www.ercb.ca/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_0_0_308_265_0_43/http%3B/ercbContent/publishedcontent/publish/ercb_home/publications_catalogue/publications_available/serial_publications/st98.aspx
| accessdateaccess-date = 2008-05-14 }}
</ref>
 
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| date= 2006
| url = http://www.neb-one.gc.ca/energy/EnergyReports/index_e.htm#OilSands
| accessdateaccess-date = 2006-09-25 |archiveurlarchive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060711231505/http://www.neb-one.gc.ca/energy/EnergyReports/index_e.htm#OilSands <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archivedatearchive-date = 2006-07-11}}
</ref> By 2007 the Alberta natural bitumen deposits were the source of over one third of the crude oil produced in Canada.<ref name=worldenergy />
 
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|date=2006
|url=http://www.statcan.ca/english/ads/11-010-XPB/pdf/sep06.pdf
|accessdateaccess-date=2006-09-25
|deadurlurl-status=yesdead
|archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326023337/http://www.statcan.gc.ca/ads-annonces/11-010-x/pdf/6000725-eng.pdf
|archivedatearchive-date=March 26, 2009
|df=
}}
</ref> This is the main factor limiting growth of oil sands production in the WCSB.
 
==Natural gas==
[[File:Oil-rig-BC-north.JPG|thumb|200px|right|Drilling rig in the gas -bearing [[Greater Sierra (oil field)|Greater Sierra field]] ]]
Canada is the third largest producer and second largest exporter of gas in the world, with the vast majority of it coming from the WCSB. The WCSB is estimated to have {{convert|143|Tcuft|km3}} of marketable gas remaining (discovered and undiscovered), which represents about two thirds of Canadian gas reserves. Over half of the gas produced is exported to the United States.
 
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| date= 2010
| url = http://www.ziffenergy.com/download/papers/cdn_gas_crossroads.pdf
| accessdateaccess-date = 2011-03-14 }}
</ref>
The majority of the large gas pools have been discovered and a significant portion of the discovered reserves has been produced. Production from the basin peaked in 2001 at around {{convert|16|Gcuft|m3}} per day and was predicted in 2003, by the [[National Energy Board]] to be likely to decline from that level.<ref>
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| url = http://www.neb-one.gc.ca/energy/EnergyReports/EMAGasSTDeliverabilityWCSB2003_2005_e.pdf
| archive-url = http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20160522155730/http://www.neb-one.gc.ca/energy/EnergyReports/EMAGasSTDeliverabilityWCSB2003_2005_e.pdf
| dead-url-status = yesdead
| archive-date = 2016-05-22
| accessdateaccess-date = 2006-09-20 }}
</ref> The overall decline rate increased from 13 percent per year in 1992 to 23 percent in 2002, which means {{convert|3.8|Gcuft/d|m3/d}} of production must be replaced each year just to keep production constant. With the basin being largely explored and operators finding less gas with each new well, this seems improbable. New gas reserves in the WCSB will likely come from unconventional sources such as [[coalbed methane]] (CBM).<ref>
{{cite web
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|author2=Botterill, A.
| title = Comparing Opportunities in a Mature Basin: Examples from the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin
| work =
| publisher = Search and Discovery
|date= 2006
| url = http://www.searchanddiscovery.net/documents/2006/06011russum/images/russum.pdf
| accessdateaccess-date = 2006-09-20 }}
</ref>
 
The number of coalbed methane wells in Alberta more than doubled in 2005, to 7764 by the end of that year, producing nearly {{convert|0.5|Gcuft|m3}} of gas per day. More than 95 percent of the CBM wells were completed in the Upper [[Cretaceous]] [[Horseshoe Canyon Formation|Horseshoe Canyon]] and [[Belly River Formation|Belly River]] formations, at typical depths of {{convert|300|ft|m}} to {{convert(-)|2400|ft|m}}. About 4 percent of the CBM wells are completed in the Lower Cretaceous [[Mannville formationFormation]], at depths of {{convert|2300|ft|m}} to {{convert(-)|4300|ft|m}}.<ref>Susan R. Eaton, "Coalbed gas frontier being tapped," AAPG Explorer, Nov. 2006, p.20-24.</ref>
 
Author David J. Hughes in his 2004 book entitled ''North America’sAmerica's Natural Gas Crisis'', predicted that the Western CanadaCanadian Sedimentary Basin would likely continue to be the main gas supply area in Canada for many years,; however, declining production and the likelihood that much of the gas will be diverted to fuel new oil sands plants mean that the probability of there being sufficient surplus gas to meet projected U.S. demand is low, and the US will have to look elsewhere for future gas supplies.<ref>
{{cite journal
| author = Hughes, David J.
| title = North America’sAmerica's Natural Gas Crisis: The Big Picture Overview and the Roll of Unconventional Gas
| publisher = Canadian Gas Potential Committee
|date= 2004-06-21
| url = http://www.canadiangaspotential.com/papers.html
| format = [[PDF]]
| accessdateaccess-date = 2006-10-06}}
</ref>
 
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|author2=Smith, G. G.
| title = Coals of Canada : distribution and compositional characteristics
| journal = International journalJournal of coalCoal geologyGeology
| publisher = Elsevier, Amsterdam
|date= 1991
Line 120 ⟶ 119:
| pages = 9–20
| url = http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=5541475
| accessdateaccess-date = 2006-10-03
| doi = 10.1016/0166-5162(91)90013-9
| issn = 0166-5162 }}
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|date= 2005
| url = http://www.energy.gov.ab.ca/388.asp
| accessdateaccess-date = 2006-10-03 |archiveurlarchive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060624020835/http://www.energy.gov.ab.ca/388.asp <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archivedatearchive-date = 2006-06-24}}
</ref>
 
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| publisher = Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists and Alberta Research Council
|date= 1994
| accessdateaccess-date = 2006-09-20
| isbn = 978-0-920230-53-94 }} This book is out of print but available online through the link above.
 
== External links ==
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{{Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin|Liard_River=yes|Fort_Nelson=yes|Northwest_Plains=yes|Northeast_Plains=yes|Central_Plains=yes|South AB=yes|Saskatchewan=yes}}
{{Petroleum industry}}
{{Authority control}}
{{coordCoord|55|N|112|W|region:CA|display=title}}
 
 
[[Category:Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin| ]]
[[Category:Foreland basins]]
[[Category:Structural basins of Canada]]
[[Category:Sedimentary basins of North America]]
[[Category:Fossil fuels in Canada]]
[[Category:Petroleum industry in Alberta]]
[[Category:Coal mining regions in Canada]]
[[Category:Oil fields of Canada]]
[[Category:Oil fields of Alberta]]
[[Category:Oil-bearing shales in Canada]]
[[Category:Geology of Canada]]
[[Category:Stratigraphy of Canada]]
[[Category:Geology of Western Canada]]
[[Category:Geology of Manitoba]]
[[Category:Geology of Saskatchewan]]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Canadian_Sedimentary_Basin"