Berbesi Et Al., 2012, Bltn11064

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1 Source rock contributions to
2 the Lower Cretaceous heavy
3 oil accumulations in Alberta:
4 A basin modeling study
5 L. A. AQ2 Berbesi, R. di Primio, Z. Anka, B. Horsfield,
6 and D. K. Higley
7 ABSTRACT
8 The origin of the immense oil sand deposits in Lower Cre-
9 taceous reservoirs of the Western Canada sedimentary basin is
10 still a matter of debate, specifically with respect to the original
11 in-place volumes and contributing source rocks. In this study,
12 the contributions from the main source rocks were addressed
13 using a three-dimensional petroleum system model calibrated
14 to well data. Asensitivity analysis of source rock definition was
15 performed in the case of the two main contributors, which are
16 the Lower Jurassic Gordondale Member of the Fernie Group
17 and the Upper Devonianlower Mississippian Exshaw Forma-
18 tion. This sensitivity analysis included variations of assigned
19 total organic carbon and hydrogen index for both source in-
20 tervals, and in the case of the Exshaw Formation, variations
21 of thickness in areas beneath the Rocky Mountains were also
22 considered. All of the modeled source rocks reached the early or
23 main oil generation stages by 60 Ma, before the onset of the
24 Laramide orogeny. Reconstructed oil accumulations were ini-
25 tially modest because of limited trapping efficiency. This was
26 improved by defining lateral stratigraphic seals within the car-
27 rier system. An additional sealing effect by biodegraded oil may
28 have hinderedthe migrationof petroleuminthe northernareas,
29 but not to the east of Athabasca. In the latter case, the main
30 trapping controls are dominantly stratigraphic and structural.
31 Our model, based on available data, identifies the Gordondale
32 source rock as the contributor of more than54%of the oil in the
33 Athabasca and Peace River accumulations, followed by minor
34 amounts from Exshaw (15%) and other Devonian to Lower
AUTHORS
L. A. AQ2 Berbesi Organic Geochemistry, Helm-
holtz Centre Potsdam, GFZ (GeoForschungs-
Zentrum) German Research Centre for Geosci-
ences, Potsdam, Germany;
berbesi@gfz-potsdam.de
Luiyin Berbesi is a Ph.D. student at GeoFor-
schungsZentrum AQ10 Potsdam-TU Berlin, working
on petroleum system modeling of Canadian
basins. During his studies at the Central Uni-
versity of Venezuela (Licenciatura in Geochem-
istry), he focused mainly on evaluation of coal-
bed methane potential in western Venezuela.
His most recent interests include oil and gas
geochemistry, as well as petroleum system
analysis through basin modeling.
R. di Primio Organic Geochemistry, Helm-
dipri@gfz-potsdam.de
Rolando di Primio joined the GeoForschungs-
Zentrum Potsdam as a senior research scientist
in 2001 after having worked as an exploration
geologist in the Norwegian petroleum industry
for several years. He holds a diploma in geology
from the RWTH (Rheinisch-Westflische Tech-
nische Hochschule) Aachen, Germany, a Ph.D.
from the University of Cologne, and is an adjunct
professor of petroleum geosciences at Jacobs
University Bremen. His research interests include
hydrocarbon phase behavior, basin modeling,
and organic geochemistry.
Z. Anka Organic Geochemistry, Helmholtz
Centre Potsdam, GFZ (GeoForschungsZentrum)
German Research Centre for Geosciences,
Potsdam, Germany; zahie@gfz-potsdam.de
Zahie Anka leads a Helmholtz Young-Investigators
Group at GeoForschungsZentrum. She holds
a geologist degree from Universidad Central de
Venezuela (Venezuela), an M.Sc. degree from
Johns Hopkins University (U.S.A.), and a Ph.D.
from Montpellier University (France). She has
studied sedimentary basins for almost 20 yr,
including 8 yr in regional studies at PDVSA
(Petrleos de Venezuela, S.A.)-Intevep. Her in-
terests include basin analysis, seismic inter-
pretation, hydrocarbon-plumbing systems, and
thermogenic-methane emissions.
Copyright 2011. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists. All rights reserved.
Manuscript received May 23, 2011; provisional acceptance July 20, 2011; revised manuscript received
October 14, 2011; final acceptance November 14, 2011.
DOI:10.1306/11141111064
AAPG Bulletin, v. X, no. X (XXXX 2011), pp. 1 24 1
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35 Jurassic source rocks. The proposed strong contribution of pe-
36 troleum from the Exshaw Formation source rock to the Ath-
37 abasca oil sands is only reproduced by assuming 25 m(82 ft) of
38 mature Exshawin the kitchen areas, with original total organic
39 carbon of 9% or more.
40 INTRODUCTION
41 The huge petroleum deposits in the foreland basins of Vene-
42 zuela and Canada are exploitable resources that have only re-
43 cently become more attractive to the petroleum industry, as
44 oil prices have risen. The heavy and extra-heavy crude oil de-
45 posits in Venezuelas Orinoco Belt are the biggest of their
46 type (PDVSA, 2006) and have in-place estimates of 206billion
47 m
3
or 1300 billion bbl. The oil sands in the Western Canada
48 sedimentary basin (WCSB) are estimated to contain 260 bil-
49 lion m
3
(1635 billion bbl), which represents the largest known
50 concentration of petroleum classified as crude bitumen (Na-
51 tional Energy Board Canada, 2010 AQ3 ). The main difference be-
52 tween these two types is that heavy oils are still mobile in res-
53 ervoir conditions, whereas the crude bitumen found in oil sands
54 is immobile and therefore cannot be produced by conven-
55 tional techniques (Tissot and Welte, 1984).
56 The main oil sand deposits of the WCSB are in Alberta.
57 These deposits are, from highest to lowest in-place estimates,
58 Athabasca (189 billion m
3
), Cold Lake (32 billion m
3
), and
59 Peace River (21 billion m
3
). Seventy-three percent of the re-
60 serves are present within the Lower Cretaceous Mannville
61 Group, where sandstones of the McMurray Formation are the
62 main host rocks (Gingras and Rokosh, 2004). The possible
63 ages of the source rocks contributing to these accumulations
64 range from the Devonian to the Early Cretaceous.
65 The oil sand accumulations are the product of microbial
66 degradation of initially light oils, occurring after the onset of
67 the Laramide orogeny (Head et al., 2003). The high level of
68 biodegradation of these oils, ranging from 4 to 8 on the Peters
69 and Moldowan scale (Brooks et al., 1988; Adams et al., 2006),
70 has made the use of chemical parameters and biomarkers for
71 oil-oil and oilsource rock correlations difficult. This has lim-
72 ited the understanding of the relative proportions of petroleum
73 contributed by different source rocks.
74 Some organic geochemical studies (Leenheer, 1984; Fowler
75 et al., 2001; Riediger et al., 2001) propose the Upper Devonian
76 lower Mississippian Exshaw Formation as the main source of
77 petroleum in Alberta. However, an alternative interpretation
78 proposes the Gordondale Member of the Fernie Group as the
B. Horsfield Organic Geochemistry, Helm-
horsf@gfz-potsdam.de
Brian Horsfield is a professor of organic geo-
chemistry and hydrocarbon systems at the
Technical University of Berlin, Germany, and
research department director at GeoForschungs-
Zentrum German Research Centre for Geosci-
ences. He is a member of the German Academy
of Science and Technology. He has more than
30 yr of experience in petroleum upstream
R&D, beginning with 9 yr at Conoco and Atlantic
Richfield.
D. K. Higley U.S. Geological Survey, Den-
ver, Colorado; higley@usgs.gov
Debra Higleys 29 yr in geologic research with
the U.S. Geological Survey were preceded by
5 yr in uranium exploration. Her research in-
terests include reservoir characterization, petro-
leum system modeling, and petroleum resource
assessment in basins in North and South Amer-
ica. She received her M.S. degree in geochem-
istry and Ph.D. in geology from the Colorado
School of Mines and her B.S. degree in geology
from Mesa State College, Colorado.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We thank the GFZ (GeoForschungsZentrum)
German Research Centre for Geosciences and
the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for support
and permission to publish. Z. Anka is the head
of the Helmholtz-University Young Investigator
Group funded by the Helmholtz Associations
Initiative and Networking Fund. This article has
benefited from reviews of Stuart D. Harker, Steve
Larter, and Kenneth Peters. Their comments
and suggestions helped improve the quality of
the final manuscript. Michael D. Lewan (USGS)
is also acknowledged for his comments and
discussions on source rock geochemistry and
the source rock definition applied in this work.
Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for
descriptive purposes only and does not imply
endorsement by the U.S. Government.
The AAPG Editor thanks the following reviewers
for their work on this paper: Stuart D. Harker,
Steve Larter, and Kenneth E. Peters.
2 Source Rock Contributions to the Lower Cretaceous Heavy Oil Accumulations in Alberta
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79 maincontributor. Athree-dimensional (3-D) model
80 covering most of Alberta by Higley et al. (2009)
81 indicated that long-distance migration of oils gen-
82 erated by the Gordondale Member is possible. This
83 work also proposed the organic-rich strata of the
84 Fernie Group as the main oil contributor to the
85 oil sands in Alberta but had problems reproducing
86 the volumes of trapped oil. The main reasons were
87 the coarse grid size required for the simulations,
88 exclusion of parts of the kitchen areas from the
89 model, migration of oil to zones outside of the
90 modeled area, and software limitations such as
91 the inability to simulate the formation of biode-
92 graded oil seals.
93 In this contribution, we present new under-
94 standing and results derived from an extended
95 model of the WCSB, covering Alberta, Saskatch-
96 ewan, and a part of the Rocky Mountains in British
97 Columbia (Figure 1). Most of the input data used
98 for the construction of this model was previously
99 applied in the model described by Higley et al.
100 (2009). However, our contribution differs from
101 the previously referred work in two main aspects.
102 First, we put special attention to the trapping ef-
103 ficiency of Cretaceous strata as the main factor
104 limiting the accurate assessment of accumulated
105 volumes. Second, we conducted a sensitivity study
106 of total organic carbon (TOC) and hydrocarbon
107 index (HI) values, as well as source rock thickness
108 for the two main proposed source rocks, namely
109 Exshaw and Gordondale. The purpose of this as-
110 sessment was to minimize the uncertainty related to
111 source rock occurrence beneath the Rocky Moun-
112 tains and discuss the implications of the source rock
113 definition on results derived from3-Dmodeling of
114 the petroleum systems in the region.
115 TECTONOSTRATIGRAPHIC HISTORY OF THE
116 WESTERN CANADA SEDIMENTARY BASIN
117 The sedimentary sequence in the Western Cana-
118 da Basin extends from the lower Paleozoic to the
119 lower Tertiary (Figure 2) and reflects the deposi-
120 tion and erosion of sediments under two main
121 tectonic phases: a Paleozoic to Jurassic platform
Figure 1. Location map of the Western Canada sedimentary basin. The square marked by thick dashed lines indicates the area modeled
in this study. A dark-gray square indicates the area modeled by Higley et al. (2009). The arrow indicates an increase in the percentage of
low-energy facies that is referred to in the Discussion section.
Berbesi et al. 3
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Figure 2. Generalized stra-
tigraphy and petroleum system
elements as introduced in the
three-dimensional model. Mod-
ified from Higley et al. (2009)
with permission of AAPG.
AQ11
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122 and an Upper Jurassic to Paleocene foreland basin
123 (Wright et al., 1994).
124 The platform succession resembles a stable
125 craton adjacent to the ancient dominantly passive
126 margin of North America. In the study area, the
127 base of this interval is represented by the Middle
128 DevonianElkPoint Groupcarbonate rocks (Wright
129 et al., 1994). The strata contain mainly carbonates,
130 with some siliciclastic (mainly shales and marls)
131 andevaporitic layers. Several series of transgressions
132 and regressions occurred during deposition of this
133 stratigraphic section, resulting in the prolific oil and
134 gas reservoirs associatedwiththe former Peace River
135 Embayment (Podruski et al., 1988; Gibson, 1975).
136 The Lower Jurassic strata represent the preoro-
137 genic stage and consist of the limestones and phos-
138 phatic sequences of the Nordegg Member and the
139 organic-rich Poker Chip Shale Member (Figure 2).
140 Upper Jurassic strata were then deposited in the
141 transitional phase from a stable continental shelf to
142 a subsiding foredeep trough (Wright et al., 1994) as
143 a consequence of the collision of allochthonous
144 terranes in the eastern Pacific with the westerly
145 drifting North American continent (Poulton et al.,
146 1990). Amajor drop of sea level was responsible for
147 significant erosion across the foreland trough (sub-
148 Mannville unconformity) during the Early Creta-
149 ceous. During the late Barremian, the western edge
150 of the craton was loaded with thrust sheets asso-
151 ciated with allochthonous terrane accretion, bring-
152 ing a new period of subsidence, and the deposition
153 of the Lower Cretaceous Mannville Group (Cant
154 and Stockmal, 1989).
155 The oldest sediments of the Mannville Group
156 consist of sandstones deposited mainly by alluvial
157 fans and rivers. Continued basin subsidence and
158 relative sea level rise resulted in the succession of
159 shales, siltstones, and lenticular sandstones of the
160 ostracod interval (Finger, 1983). Major sediment
161 input associated with the Cordilleran evolution
162 pushed the shoreline northward and converted
163 most of Alberta and Saskatchewan into flood-
164 plains. Fluvial channel sandstones, siltstones, shale,
165 and coal are characteristic of this depositional pe-
166 riod (Finger, 1983; Christopher, 1984). Deposi-
167 tion of the upper part of the Mannville Group was
168 followed by middle to late Albian lowstand and
169 erosion, giving origin to the super-Mannville un-
170 conformity. During the late Albian, most of the
171 basin was flooded because of a major rise in sea
172 level, with associated deposition of Joli Fou Shale
173 (Smith, 2008), the main seal for the oil accumu-
174 lations within the Lower Cretaceous reservoirs
175 (Creaney and Allan, 1990). The Joli Fou Shale is
176 also the main seal in our 3-D model.
177 The stratigraphic section represented by the
178 LowerUpper Cretaceous Colorado Group corre-
179 sponds to several periods of marine inundations
180 and regressions, as well as lateral variation from
181 offshore to shoreface facies. As indicated by Mack
182 and Jerzykiewicz (1989), the Paleocene Paskapoo
183 Formation in Alberta and the equivalent Raven-
184 scrag Formation in Saskatchewan were deposited
185 during the thrusting event in the Cordillera, con-
186 taining mainly fluvial channel sandstones, siltstones,
187 shales, and, in some locations, coal. Deposition of
188 this interval was followed by major uplift and ero-
189 sion associated with the Laramide orogeny, thus
190 terminating the phase of foreland basin deposition.
191 PETROLEUM SYSTEM GEOMETRY
192 AND ELEMENTS
193 The WCSB AQ4 has typical asymmetrical foreland ba-
194 sin geometry, with a gently dipping eastern mar-
195 gin and a steeper thrust-bounded western margin.
196 The kitchen areas are located in the deep western
197 areas, where the highest temperatures were reached.
198 The tilted migration pathways promoted lateral
199 migration of the generated petroleum to the shal-
200 lower traps in the east (Higley et al., 2009). Once
201 accumulated, lowreservoir temperatures promoted
202 subsequent biodegradation of the petroleum.
203 Source Rocks
204 The ages of the petroleum source rocks within the
205 WCSB range from the Devonian to the Late Cre-
206 taceous. Here we describe the source rocks that are
207 proposed as the main contributors to Mannville
208 petroleum accumulations. From oldest to youn-
209 gest, these are Duvernay, Exshaw, Doig, Gordon-
210 dale, Poker Chip, as well as the ostracod and coal
Berbesi et al. 5
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211 zones within the Mannville Group (Figure 2). The
212 Second White Speckled Shale has been proposed
213 as a source rock for oil in some Upper Cretaceous
214 reservoirs (e.g., Creaney and Allan, 1990; Creaney
215 et al., 1994); however, because it did not contrib-
216 ute oil to the Lower Cretaceous oil sands, we did
217 not model the Second White Speckled Shale. The
218 ostracod AQ5 zone and coal within the Mannville Group
219 have been indicated as important contributors of
220 oil to the Cold Lake oil sands and the Provost field
221 (Riediger et al., 1997; Higley et al., 2009). We will
222 give a brief description of these intervals, but they
223 are not considered as sources in our 3-D model,
224 which mainly focused on the DevonianJurassic
225 source rocks.
226 Duvernay Formation (Devonian
227 Woodbend Group)
228 As widely described in the literature (Creaney and
229 Allan, 1990; Creaney et al., 1994), the Duvernay
230 Formation is characterized by extensive basinal de-
231 posits and consists of dark-brown to black bitumi-
232 nous carbonates interbedded with gray-green cal-
233 careous shales. The Duvernay represents a period
234 of great accumulation and preservation of organic
235 carbon under marine deep-water conditions. Evi-
236 dence of euxinic water-column conditions and
237 low sedimentation rates were reported by Stoakes
238 (1980), among others. The organic matter in this
239 interval can be classified as type II (oil prone) ker-
240 ogen, with TOCvalues ranging from2 to 20 wt. %
241 and HIs between 500 and 600 mg HC/g TOC.
242 The thickness of this formation is variable, with an
243 average of 44 m (144 ft), although greater thick-
244 ness (100m[328ft] or more) has beendescribed
245 in some areas (Switzer et al., 1994).
246 Exshaw Formation (Upper
247 DevonianLower Mississippian)
248 The Bakken and Exshawformations comprise fine-
249 grained siliciclastics deposited in euxinic to shal-
250 low neritic environments during the late Famen-
251 nian and the earliest Tournaisian (Richards et al.,
252 1994), following a major drowning event that ter-
253 minated the carbonate system of the Devonian
254 (Creaney andAllan, 1990). The ExshawFormation
255 lies beneath the Alberta Plains and in outcrops in
256 the Foothills and Front Ranges of the Rocky Moun-
257 tains, thickening from east to west. This source
258 rock can be divided into lower black shale and
259 upper siltstone members. The TOC values of the
260 black shale, which is the main generating interval,
261 are up to 21 wt. % (Leenheer, 1984; Creaney and
262 Allan, 1990; Caplan and Bustin, 1996; Smith and
263 Bustin, 2000). The average HI is approximately
264 515 mg HC/g TOC, but values as high as 909 mg
265 HC/g TOC have been reported for this type II
266 marine source rock (Smith and Bustin, 2000).
267 Doig Formation (Triassic)
268 The Triassic Doig Formation consists of an upper
269 siltstone unit and a lower highly radioactive shale
270 unit. The generating interval is the basal unit, which
271 is also called the phosphate zone (Creaney and
272 Allan, 1990; Riediger et al., 1990b). PublishedTOC
273 and HI values for this interval are up to 11 wt. %
274 and 480 mg HC/g TOC, respectively (Riediger
275 et al., 1990b). Oil in some Triassic reservoirs is
276 proposed to originate fromthis source rock, which
277 contains type II marine organic matter (Riediger
278 et al., 1990a). Riediger et al. (1990b) reported a
279 thickness of 78 m (256 ft) in the type section, of
280 which 39 m (128 ft) correspond to the basal phos-
281 phate zone.
282 Gordondale and Poker Chip Shale Members of
283 the Fernie Group (Lower Jurassic)
284 The Gordondale Member (Figure 2) consists mainly
285 of dark-brown finely laminated calcitic mudstones,
286 calcilutites, and calcarenites, with variably phos-
287 phatic content and high radioactivity because of
288 the presence of uranium(Asgar-Deen et al., 2004).
289 This stratigraphic interval corresponds to the Nor-
290 degg Member of the Fernie Group mentioned in
291 many publications (Poulton et al., 1990; Riediger
292 et al., 1990a; Riediger and Coniglio, 1992). It cov-
293 ers a significant part of west-central Alberta and
294 northeastern British Columbia and was deposited
295 after a major marine transgression in the Early Ju-
296 rassic. The thickness of this formation is variable,
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297 reaching maximumvalues of 67.7 m(222 ft), with
298 approximately 25 m (82 ft) as an average (Mossop
299 and Shetsen, 1994). The Gordondale Member con-
300 tains sulfur-rich type I/II-S marine kerogen, with
301 TOCvalues reaching up to 28 wt. %(Riediger et al.,
302 1990a; Asgar-Deen et al., 2004). The HI ranges
303 from26 to 273 mg HC/g TOCfor mature samples
304 (Riediger et al., 1990a; Ibrahimbas and Riediger,
305 2004) and reaches up to 800 mg HC/g TOC for
306 immature samples (Creaney and Allan, 1990;
307 Riediger et al., 1990a; Asgar-Deen et al., 2004) .
308 The earlylate Toarcian Poker Chip A shale is
309 the rock interval withthe best source rock potential
310 within the Poker Chip Shale Member of the Fernie
311 Group. It consists of black calcareous shales and
312 thin limestones deposited in marine environments
313 and are present in southern and western Alberta. It
314 contains type II organic matter, with TOC values
315 reaching upto 18.5%and HI of upto 740 mg HC/g
316 TOC for immature samples (Riediger, 2002).
317 Ostracod Zone and Coals in the Mannville
318 Group (Lower Cretaceous)
319 The lowest stratigraphic section of the foreland ba-
320 sin is rich in deltaic and coastal plain strata, as well
321 as coals, which are described as mainly gas-prone
322 source rocks (Creaney and Allan, 1990; Riediger
323 et al., 1999). The ostracod zone is composed of es-
324 tuarine valley fill strata deposited during a north-
325 to-south transgression as limestone and calcareous
326 fossiliferous shale. Riediger et al. (1997) described
327 the section as consisting of a mixture of units con-
328 taining type III kerogenwithbeds containing types I
329 and II kerogen. Reported values of TOCand HI for
330 thermally immature samples (Moshier andWaples,
331 1985; Riediger et al., 1997) are approximately
332 2.5 wt. % and 317 mg HC/g TOC, respectively.
333 Oil Contribution from Source Rocks to
334 Accumulations in Lower Cretaceous Strata
335 No agreement exists as to the main source rocks
336 for reservoirs in the Lower Cretaceous Mannville
337 strata. Brooks et al. (1988) used biomarkers to pro-
338 pose that the Cretaceous reservoirs were charged
339 by oil that had experienced long-distance migra-
340 tion, and which was generated by the same or at
341 least very similar source rocks. However, they did
342 not identify specific source rock candidates.
343 Creaney and Allan (1990) estimated that at
344 least 1.7 trillion bbl (270 10
9
m
3
) of oil in Lower
345 Cretaceous Mannville Group sands originated from
346 source rocks in the following order of importance:
347 Nordegg (Gordondale) Member, Exshaw Forma-
348 tion, phosphate zone of the Doig Formation, and
349 Duvernay Formation (Figure 2). Afour-dimensional
350 model of a part of Alberta and Saskatchewan de-
351 veloped by Higley et al. (2009) proposed that
352 source rocks in the Jurassic Fernie Group (Gor-
353 dondale Member and Poker Chip A Shale) were
354 the initial and major contributors of petroleum to
355 Mannville Group reservoirs.
356 In contrast, the idea of the Nordegg (Gordon-
357 dale) Member as the main source rock was not
358 supported by Riediger (1994), who considered
359 that oils generated by sulfur-rich kerogen in this
360 interval should have very low API gravities and
361 would not be able to migrate long distances. This
362 author also indicated that oil samples found in
363 Athabasca showed some biomarker distributions
364 such as pristane/phytane, diasterane/regular ster-
365 ane, and abundance of C
35
relative to C
34
hopanes
366 that were inconsistent with those found in Gor-
367 dondale bitumens (Riediger et al., 1990a). Many
368 biomarker correlations indicate that the Exshaw
369 source rock was the primary contributor to the
370 Lower Cretaceous oil sand deposits in Alberta
371 (Leenheer, 1984; Fowler et al., 2001; Riediger et al.,
372 2001). Adams et al. (2010) used biodegradation-
373 resistant parameters to conclude that the Peace
374 River reservoirs received an important contribu-
375 tion from the Gordondale Member, but that the
376 Athabasca and Cold Lake deposits originated
377 mainly from the Exshaw Formation.
378 Reservoir Formations
379 The main oil sand deposits in the WCSB occur at
380 Athabasca, Cold Lake, and Peace River. More than
381 70% of the oil found in these deposits is within for-
382 mations belonging to the Lower Cretaceous Mann-
383 ville Group (Gingras and Rokosh, 2004). The
384 Athabasca and Cold Lake oil sands occur mainly
Berbesi et al. 7
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385 within the McMurray and Clearwater formations
386 and equivalent strata (Vigrass, 1968). The accu-
387 mulations at Peace River are mainly in the Blue-
388 sky and Gething formations (Vigrass, 1968; Gingras
389 and Rokosh, 2004).
390 In general, the Mannville Group consists of
391 interbedded sandstone and shale deposited on an
392 erosional surface that truncates the Jurassic and
393 older strata of the WCSB. Interested readers are
394 referred to Vigrass (1968) for a more extended
395 geologic description of the oil sands area.
396 Accumulations at Peace River and Cold Lake
397 correspond to pinch-outs of the reservoirs against
398 shales and structural highs (Vigrass, 1968). The
399 trapping mechanism of the Athabasca oil sands is
400 controversial (Ranger, 2006). Vigrass (1968) in-
401 dicated that most of the Athabasca accumulation
402 corresponds to a subtle domal structure that began
403 to form before deposition of the reservoir sands,
404 with a later increase in amplitude approximately
405 during the Early Cretaceous. The same author
406 indicated that another part of the Athabasca ac-
407 cumulation occurs in the trough and northeastern
408 limb of a syncline that resulted from salt dissolu-
409 tion of Devonian evaporites. Ranger (2006) pro-
410 posed that the structural control exerted by salt
411 dissolution was important in the southeastern part
412 of Athabasca, but not to the northeast, where the
413 timing of evaporite dissolution may have precluded
414 the development of a structural trap before migra-
415 tion. For the latter case, this author suggested a
416 stratigraphic control where upper Mannville shales
417 overlapped and sealed the McMurray Formation
418 reservoir against Paleozoic and Precambrian rocks.
419 However, this hypothesis has not been confirmed
420 bydirect evidence, whichmight have beendestroyed
421 during the Pleistocene erosion (Ranger, 2006).
422 Seals
423 Among the Paleozoic to Tertiary sedimentary se-
424 quences shown in Figure 2, many rock intervals
425 act as seals within the different petroleum systems
426 in the WCSB. The main seal for petroleum within
427 Mannville strata across the WCSB is represented
428 by the Joli Fou Formation of the Middle Cretaceous
429 Colorado Group. This formation is present across
430 most of Alberta and extends eastward, reaching
431 the Manitoba Escarpment, where it is called the
432 Skull Creek Member (Leckie et al., 2008). It con-
433 sists of noncalcareous marine shale with a small
434 proportion of interbedded fine- to medium-grained
435 sandstone, which was deposited during a major
436 sea level high (Wickenden, 1949; Leckie et al.,
437 2008).
438
439 THREE-DIMENSIONAL MODEL DEFINITION
440 AND CALIBRATION
441 Input Data
442 The 3-D model presented here includes parts of
443 Alberta, Saskatchewan, and the Rocky Mountains
444 of British Columbia (Figure 1), covering a total
445 area of 1,412,400 km
2
(545,330 mi
2
). Afull-scale
446 model of the basin containing 22 isopach maps
447 and preliminary lithofacies assignment was kindly
448 provided by the U.S. Geological Survey and Debra
449 K. Higley. The modeling software used in this work
450 was Schlumbergers PetroMod 3-D version 11.3.
451 Lithologies and Source Rock Definition
452 The stratigraphic sequences shownin Figure 2 were
453 reproduced in the model by 22 layers that are re-
454 gionally extended versions of those described by
455 Higley et al. (2009). They extend south to the limits
456 of Alberta and east to the border of Saskatchewan-
457 Manitoba. The ages and initial lithofacies are de-
458 scribed by Higley et al. (2009). The model includes
459 lateral facies variation for each layer. Vertical rock
460 heterogeneity within each stratigraphic unit was
461 not represented in detail but was influenced by
462 the use of mixed lithologies within assigned litho-
463 facies. Conversion of the original 3-D model to a
464 newer version of the modeling software required a
465 subtle change on the initial lithofacies definition.
466 Our lithofacies are slightly more permeable than
467 those described by Higley et al. (2009) for carrier
468 beds and reservoirs.
469 For comparison purposes, we will use the term
470 previous model to refer to the model of Higley
471 et al. (2009) and the term extended model for
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472 the larger version described in this article. The
473 thickness of the source rock layers as well as the
474 TOC and HI contents were initially assigned as in
475 the previous model of Alberta and are summa-
476 rized in Table 1.
477 To reduce the uncertainty related to source
478 rock heterogeneity, we performed a sensitivity anal-
479 ysis with respect to TOC and HI for the Gordon-
480 dale Member of the Fernie Group and the Exshaw
481 Formation. We focused on these two source rocks
482 because they are the two intervals described in the
483 literature as the main likely contributors to the
484 Mannville reservoirs. Later, we will discuss the in-
485 compatibility of the results based on our initial as-
486 sumptions with some interpretations from organic
487 geochemistry in relation to the origin of petroleum
488 in the Lower Cretaceous strata of Alberta. We also
489 evaluated the impact of thickness variations in the
490 Exshaw Formation.
491 Oil Generation Kinetics
492 The first kinetic parameters applied in our model
493 were basedonthe relationshipbetweenthe organic
494 sulfur content of kerogen and the kinetic param-
495 eters determinedby hydrous pyrolysis (Higley et al.,
496 2009). This methodology is described by Lewan
497 and Ruble (2002), and it basically consists of esti-
498 mates of the activationenergy derivedfromhydrous
499 pyrolysis experiments using the organic sulfur mole
500 fraction of kerogen (S
org
/S
org
+ C). By means of this
501 activation energy, the frequency factor can be de-
502 termined from the compensation relationship be-
503 tween these two variables. Table 1 shows the values
504 used for these initial activation energies and fre-
505 quency factors. Composite samples of immature
506 Poker Chip A Shale were not available when these
507 kinetic parameters were obtained. For this reason,
508 the kinetic parameters for this source rock are the
509 same as those for type II-S kerogen from the Gor-
510 dondale Member, which is a reasonable assump-
511 tion based on its lithology, consisting of organic-
512 rich black calcareous shale and thin limestone
513 (Higley et al., 2009).
514 Boundary Conditions
515 For model calibration, the main control lies in the
516 correct reproduction of maximum burial temper-
517 ature and timing. In a basin currently at maximum
518 burial, the principal variable to achieve a good
519 temperature calibration is the basal heat flow. In
520 inverted (uplifted) basins, maximum paleotem-
521 peratures reached by the sediments depend on a
522 combination of heat flow, erosion magnitude, and
523 timing.
524 For the WCSB, we started the calibration by
525 addressing the heat-flow distribution. Afterward,
526 we addressed the erosion magnitudes and the sed-
527 iment water interface temperature (SWIT), as well
528 as the paleobathymetry. During each step of the
529 process, multiple one-dimensional extractions across
530 the basin were calibrated to vitrinite reflectance
531 (R
o
) and temperature measurements from wells.
532 Heat Flow
533 The heat-flow maps used in our model are shown
534 in Figures 3A and B and were developed by com-
535 bining two published maps.
t1:1 Table 1. Major Modeled Source Rocks and Initial Input Parameters*
t1:2 Source Rock Layer Kerogen Type
TOC
(wt. %)
HI
(mg HC/g TOC)
Average Thickness
(m)
E
a
**
(Kcal/mol)
Log A
0
**
(1/m.y.)
t1:3 Poker Chip Shale A (Fernie Group) II 7.36 550 15.8 37.6 21.9
t1:4 Gordondale Member (Fernie Group) I/II-S 15.89 740 26 37.6 21.9
t1:5 Doig Formation II 2.90 450 40 52.5 26.8
t1:6 Exshaw Formation II 9.64 500 4.2 53.6 27.1
t1:7 Duvernay Formation II 5.81 510 43.6 58.5 28.7
t1:8 *The values correspond to those applied in the previous three-dimensional model of Alberta published by Higley et al. (2009).
t1:9 **A
0
= frequency factor; E
a
= activation energy.
Berbesi et al. 9
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536 Bachu and Burwash (1994) analyzed the geo-
537 thermal regime in the sedimentary rocks of the
538 WCSB using corrected bottom-hole temperature
539 measurements. Based on 487 data points, they
540 constructed a basement heat-flow map that in-
541 cludes the Foothills and northern parts of Alberta
542 and the southern part of Saskatchewan. Their val-
543 ues, which range between 40 mW/m
2
in southern
544 Alberta and Saskatchewan and more than 80 mW/
545 m
2
in the northern parts of Alberta and north-
546 western Canadian Territories, correspond well with
547 the geothermal gradient in the region.
548 The second data source for our heat-flow maps
549 was the geothermal mapof NorthAmerica (Blackwell
550 and Richards, 2004), which integrates extensive in-
551 dustry thermal data sets and research on heat-flow
552 data. This mapshows heat-flowvalues approximately
553 80 mW/m
2
beneath the Rocky Mountains in
554 southeastern British Columbia and 50 to 60 mW/
555 m
2
in Alberta and Saskatchewan, with a trend of
556 increasing heat flow from south to north in
557 Alberta.
558 In general, our heat-flow values are within the
559 normal range for a foreland basin (Allen and Allen,
560 1990; Deming, 1994). Variation of heat flow
561 through time was considered for the areas located
562 beneath the Rocky Mountains, considering the tran-
563 sition from a platform in a passive margin to rapid
564 accretion and subsidence associated with the Lar-
565 amide orogeny. For the areas corresponding to the
566 plains in Alberta and Saskatchewan, the heat-flow
567 values were considered as constant because these
568 areas were not affectedby any major thermal event.
569 Erosion
570 The next step in the calibration of our model was
571 the estimation of erosion magnitudes. The two main
572 erosional events that influenced thermal matu-
573 ration and petroleum migration were introduced
574 into the model based on reported data discussed
575 below. The minor event was assigned between 150
576 and 119 Ma (erosion before Mannville deposition),
577 corresponding to early stages of development of
578 the foreland basin. The main event began at 58 Ma
579 and finishes at the present time and corresponds
580 to the onset of the Laramide orogeny and
581 subsequent basin uplift and erosion. In the case of
582 pre-Mannville erosion before Mannville deposi-
583 tion, a relatively low value of 180 m (590 ft) was
584 assigned. This value corresponds to an erosion rate
585 of 0.006 mm/yr, which is comparable to estimates
586 for geologic settings under the influence of slow ero-
587 sion (Flowers et al., 2006). Most attention was put
588 into the Laramide erosion because it followed the
589 period of maximum burial in Alberta and thus had a
590 major influence on the temperature and pressure
591 evolution on the basin (Hitchon, 1984; Issler et al.,
592 1999).
593 Magara (1976) used shale-transit time values
594 recorded on sonic logs to estimate the magnitude
595 of Laramide erosion in the southwestern part of the
Figure 3. Basal heat-flow maps developed for this study. (A) Preforeland phase (380119 Ma). (B) Foreland phase (1190 Ma). Plus
symbols are locations of wells that have vitrinite reflectance data.
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596 WCSB, obtaining values up to 1400 m (4600 ft).
597 These magnitudes were later discussed by Kumar
598 and Magara (1979), who indicated that the rate of
599 velocity increase is a parameter that changes with
600 depth, and therefore, the estimates of erosion using
601 Magaras technique are highly dependent on the
602 method of extrapolation in a curve of transit time
603 versus depth. Hacquebard (1977) used the equi-
604 libriummoisture of coals published by Steiner et al.
605 (1972) and compared these values with a graph
606 derived from European data, which relates the
607 equilibrium moisture of coal to its original depth
608 of burial. He estimated maximum thickness of
609 erosion of about 800 m (2600 ft) in the east of
610 Alberta and 3000 m (9800 ft) in the west. These
611 values are considerably higher than those estimated
612 initially by Magara. Later, Nurkowski (1984) ap-
613 plied a similar methodology but included the
614 ranks of coal that are present in the Alberta plains
615 in the curve that relates equilibriummoisture with
616 depth of burial. He obtained similar trends, al-
617 though around 500 m (1600 ft) less erosion for
618 each area.
619 After integrating and combining the published
620 data, we built an eroded thickness map that was
621 used as input for the model (Figure 4). According
622 to this map, erosion values have an average value
623 of 500 m (1600 ft) in the Alberta plains and Sas-
624 katchewan and reach 2500 m (8200 ft) beneath
625 the Rocky Mountains, coinciding mostly with the
626 values proposed by Nurkowski (1984).
627 Sediment-Water Interface Temperature
628 and Paleobathymetry
629 The temperature at the sediment-water interface
630 was initially estimated using a tool of the modeling
631 software, which generates a SWIT trend over geo-
632 logic time for a given present-day latitude, longi-
633 tude, and paleowater depth (Wygrala, 1986).
634 The application of this tool resulted in SWIT
635 values approximately 20C for most of the mod-
636 eled period, except since the onset of the last
637 glaciation to the present, where the SWIT ranges
638 between 5 and 10C.
639 Given the large area covered by our model, we
640 constructed paleowater depth distribution maps
641 insteadof assigning a single paleowater depthtrend.
642 We built 10 maps representing the paleobathymetry
643 for the time from the Devonian to the Late Cre-
644 taceous. These maps are based on organic facies
645 distribution for Devonian and Mississippian strata
646 (Fowler et al., 2004; Stasiuk and Fowler, 2004),
647 lithofacies described for Triassic and Jurassic rocks
Figure 4. Erosion map assigned
for the Laramide orogenic period.
Berbesi et al. 11
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648 (Edwards et al., 1994; Ross and Bustin, 2006),
649 and early Turonian paleobathymetry reconstruction
650 based on lithofacies and faunal data. Finally, 0 m
651 of water depth was assigned from the Laramide
652 orogeny to the present.
653 Calibration Data
654 Thermal data from 33 wells across Alberta and
655 Saskatchewan were used for model calibration and
656 include drillstemtest (DST) andcorrectedbottom-
657 hole temperatures, as well as measuredR
o
. Figure 5
658 shows the calibration results and burial history
659 curve for one well located in west-central Alberta
660 (Figure 1). In general, the model achieves a very
661 good reproduction of the temperatures and ma-
662 turity trends with depth. Nonetheless, the temper-
663 ature calibration was problematic for a few wells
664 in central Alberta, possibly reflecting local heat-
665 flow anomalies (Hitchon et al., 1990; Bachu and
666 Burwash, 1994) related to basement radiogenic heat
667 production or heat transfer by groundwater flow.
668 Migration Modeling
669 We used the hybrid calculation method for the pe-
670 troleum migration simulation. This method com-
671 bines Darcy flow and flowpath (ray-tracing) tech-
672 niques (Schlumberger, 2010). Inthe hybridmethod,
673 a threshold permeability value is set. When this
Figure 5. Burial history and calibration at well 01-27-060-26W4 (see location in Figure 1). The onset of the Laramide orogenic phase is
indicated with the dashed line in the burial curve.
AQ12
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674 permeability threshold is exceeded by the mod-
675 eled lithofacies, the flowpath method is activated,
676 otherwise, migrationis modeled by the Darcy flow.
677 Inthis manner, migrationthroughlow-permeability
678 lithologies (e.g., shales and siltstones) is based on
679 the Darcy flow, and in more permeable carrier li-
680 thologies (i.e., sandstones), flowpath modeling is
681 implemented (Welte et al., 2000).
682
683 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
684 Generation
685 We will first discuss the petroleum generation re-
686 sults from our simulations using the initial source
687 rock input parameters as defined in Table 1. As
688 shown in Figure 6, the kitchen areas are located in
689 western and southwestern Alberta, corresponding
690 to the foothills and sedimentary section below the
691 Rocky Mountains.
692 Significant transformation ratios (50%) are
693 reached by the Gordondale Member and Poker
694 Chip A Shale of the Fernie Group at 75 Ma. Such
695 transformation ratios are also observed for the
696 Duvernay and Exshaw formations at 65 Ma and
697 approximately 5 m.y. later for the Doig Formation.
698 This sequence of generation timing reflects the
699 burial history of the sequences. Early generation
700 fromthe Lower Jurassic Fernie Group source rocks
701 is caused by the fast kinetic parameters corre-
702 sponding to labile type II-S kerogen.
703 At 60 Ma, all of the source rocks considered in
704 our model reached R
o
values that correspond to
Figure 6. Present-day transformation ratio (tr) distribution showing the location of kitchen areas and time extractions for three selected
points.
Berbesi et al. 13
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705 early or main oil generation in western or south-
706 western Alberta and wet or dry gas generation
707 beneath the accretion zone. This time represents
708 the point of maximum burial before the onset of
709 the Laramide orogeny (Issler et al., 1999). From
710 this point on, the rate of kerogen transformation
711 decreased and ultimately ceased as a consequence
712 of the continuous decrease in temperature.
713 Figure 7 shows the cumulative evolution of oil
714 generation for the modeled source rocks. The re-
715 sults for the Gordondale Member and the Poker
716 Chip A are closely similar to those published by
717 Higley et al. (2009). According to this first sce-
718 nario, the Gordondale Member of the Fernie Group
719 is the main generator, producing a maximum yield
720 of oil of almost 400 billion m
3
(2515 billion bbl),
721 which is approximately four times more oil than
722 the amount generated by any other source rock.
723 Total generation values for the Duvernay, Doig,
724 and Exshaw formations are higher than those of
725 the previous 3-D model of Alberta because of the
726 extension of the kitchen area to southern Alberta
727 and software changes (Figure 1). In summary, the
728 organic-rich intervals within the LowerMiddle
729 Jurassic section generate more oil than the sum of
730 all organic-rich strata located between the De-
731 vonian and Triassic sedimentary sections.
732 Migration and Accumulation
733 Initial Models Definition
734 Using the initial conditions described in Table 1,
735 a total oil contribution from the modeled source
736 rocks to the Mannville Formation (reservoir layer)
737 of approximately 19 billion m
3
(119 billion bbl)
738 was obtained, which coincides in general with that
739 obtained from the previous model of Alberta.
740 However, this volume is low compared with cur-
741 rent estimates of 260 billion m
3
(1635 billion bbl)
742 for the Lower Cretaceous oil sands (National Energy
743 Board Canada, 2010). Two possible reasons for this
744 result were addressed: (1) inadequate source rock
745 definition and amount of generated oil and (2) in-
746 adequate trap definition and that enough petroleum
747 was generated but it was not efficiently trapped.
748 The total volume of oil generated by the five
749 modeled source rocks shown in Figure 7 is 694
750 billion m
3
(4365 billion bbl), which is more than
751 the amount of petroleum required to fill the oil
752 sand accumulations in Alberta. This seems to in-
753 dicate that the low accumulation volumes are not
754 a direct consequence of the source rock definition
755 or assigned generative potential. The model also
756 shows an efficient expulsion of generated hydro-
757 carbons from the source rock layers that exceeds
758 70% in all the cases.
759 Under this configuration of the model, the
760 traps are filled to spill and/or have experienced re-
761 migration during one or more periods. Most of the
762 oil reaching the Lower Cretaceous strata contin-
763 ued migrating beyond Athabasca to the north and
764 northeast, escaping from the modeled area, or mi-
765 grated to the east to form large shallow oil accu-
766 mulations along the Precambrian shield in Saskatch-
767 ewan. In other words, the initial trap definition in
768 the model was insufficient to account for present-
769 day accumulations. Higley et al. (2009) listed the
770 coarse grid size of the model relative to subtle
Figure 7. Cumulative oil generation using
initial source rock parameters.
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771 stratigraphic traps as one of the main reasons why
772 insufficient amounts of petroleum were trapped.
773 Another possible reason was the incapacity of the
774 modeling software to simulate biodegradation. In the
775 WCSB, nonbiodegraded light oil reached shallow
776 reservoirs and suffered water washing and biode-
777 gradation, resulting in a heavier viscous oil that was
778 a factor in the trapping of the subsequently ac-
779 cumulated oil. We tried to address both possibi-
780 lities starting with a revision of our facies distribu-
781 tion maps.
782
783 Evaluation of Trapping Efficiency
784 The Lower Cretaceous sequence of the WCSB
785 consists of interbedded sandy, silty, and shaly units
786 whose lateral and vertical lithologic variations could
787 not be reproduced in detail. These lithologic var-
788 iations are a strong factor in the trapping of petro-
789 leum. Vigrass (1968) indicated, for example, the
790 importance of onlap traps as controls on oil accu-
791 mulations at Peace River and the poor lateral
792 continuity of the sandstone beds in the Athabasca
793 area. The dominance of shaly units in the Lower
794 Cretaceous strata to the north of the Peace River
795 area has been reported (Vigrass, 1968; Mossop and
796 Shetsen, 1994) and relates to the predominantly
797 marine conditions in northern Alberta during this
798 geologic interval (Leckie and Smith, 1992). The
799 abundance of low-energy facies has been described
800 for the northeastern limits of the Athabasca accu-
801 mulation. Hayes et al. (1994) showed an increase
802 in the percentage of low-energy facies following an
803 orientation similar to that indicated by the arrowin
804 Figure 1. In a detailed study by Ranger (2006), the
805 author proposes that the main controls hindering
806 the migration of petroleum to the northeast of
807 Athabasca were stratigraphic, although evidence
808 for this hypothesis might have been removed dur-
809 ing erosion.
810 We tried to reproduce these lithologic varia-
811 tions and to increase the trapping efficiency of our
812 model by creating a stratigraphic barrier that cov-
813 ered the northern parts of Alberta and the north-
814 eastern edges of the Athabasca deposit. The total
815 amount of accumulated oil in the Mannville Group
816 strata using this configuration is about 230 billion
817 m
3
(1450 billion bbl), which represents more
818 than 1200% increase with respect to our first re-
819 sults. Another improvement achieved by imple-
820 menting this impermeable barrier is related to the
821 stability of the oil accumulations. The initial con-
822 figuration of the model without this barrier resulted
823 in remigration of petroleum, with accumulations
824 that changed continuously in volume and area
825 through time after the onset of the Laramide ero-
826 sion. This occurred as a consequence of the shal-
827 low nature of these reservoirs, which made them
828 vulnerable to tilting produced by nonuniform ero-
829 sion across the basin. When this low-permeability
830 lateral seal was applied, remigration of petroleum
831 diminished, allowing us to study the compositional
832 evolution of independent reservoirs through time.
833 The contribution from the main sources to Lower
834 Cretaceous strata as a function of time is shown in
835 Figure 8. The reservoir filling curves are slightly
836 susceptible to variations in the Laramide uplift pat-
837 tern; however, the total contributions from in-
838 dividual source rocks as well as the general trends
839 are constant.
840 A second approach implemented an imper-
841 meable barrier as discussed above, however, as a
842 piercing lithologythat simulates thetime-dependent
843 sealing effect of biodegraded oil. This piercing body
844 appears in the north and eastern limits of the known
845 trapping areas of Alberta at 55 Ma, extending pro-
846 gressively to the south and west until it occupies
847 its final area at 30 Ma, as shown in Figure 9. This
848 time configuration assumes that biodegraded
849 seals did not occur before the onset of the Lar-
850 amide erosion and further introduction of fresh
851 water to the reservoirs. This approach resulted in
852 large accumulations in northwestern Saskatchewan
853 and northeastern Alberta before the piercing li-
854 thology reached its maximum extension. After
855 experimenting with the timing and areas for this
856 piercing barrier, it appears that the sealing effect
857 of biodegraded oil may have been important in
858 hindering the migration of petroleum in the
859 northern areas, but the timing was not optimal for
860 impeding the movement of fluids to the east of
861 Athabasca.
862 One limitation of our progressive lateral seal is
863 that it cannot model the volume decrease of pe-
864 troleum through time as biodegradation occurs.
Berbesi et al. 15
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865 However, because the main limitation of a biode-
866 graded seal is the timing of its occurrence and not
867 the masses involved, we consider that the main
868 trapping control was structural and stratigraphic,
869 as previously proposed by Vigrass (1968) and
870 Ranger (2006).
871
872 Oil Composition and Source Rock Contributions
873 Some authors propose the Exshaw Formation as
874 the main contributor to Mannville Group oils
875 (Leenheer, 1984; Fowler et al., 2001; Riediger et al.,
876 2001) based on organic geochemical analysis and
877 biomarker characterization. Heavy biodegradation
878 complicates interpretations of biomarkers for the
879 Athabasca oil sands. Nevertheless, new techniques
880 for the study of this type of hydrocarbons have
881 allowed us to address the sources of the oil within
882 the accumulations that we analyze in this study. To
883 identify variable source contributions to the oil
884 sands from the Exshaw, Gordondale, and Duver-
885 nay source rocks, Adams et al. (2010) used quan-
886 titative gas chromatographymass spectrometry AQ6
887 methods optimized for heavy oils, as well as highly
888 biodegradation-resistant proxies like the metal S
889 content, and analysis of source-dependent high-
890 molecular-weight multiheteroatom compounds.
891 In the case of the Peace River region, they indi-
892 cated mixing of Gordondale- and Exshaw-sourced
893 oils. In the case of southern Athabasca, they in-
894 dicate an origin from the Exshaw Formation with
895 minor contributions fromthe Duvernay Formation.
896 In contrast, the importance of the Gordondale
897 Member as a main contributor to the accumula-
898 tions within the Mannville Group has been sug-
899 gested by the previous 3-D model of Alberta
900 (Higley et al., 2009), which proposed that source
901 rocks of the Fernie Group generated almost twice
902 the combined volume of oil from all other Devo-
903 nian through Lower Cretaceous source rocks. This
904 3-D model also suggested that oils generated from
905 the high-sulfur Gordondale Member were able to
906 experience long-distance migration, which can be
907 compared with some other known systems were
908 long-distance migrationof oils generatedfromhigh-
909 sulfur sources occurred (Higley et al., 2009). Ex-
910 amples include migration of oils from the Phos-
911 phoria source rocks in Wyoming and Jurassic source
912 rocks in Iraq (Sheldon, 1967; Claypool et al., 1978;
913 Pitman et al., 2004). The importance of Gordon-
914 dale as source rocks has also been suggested by
915 other analysis of biomarkers, metals, and stable
916 sulfur isotopes (Lewan et al., 2008) and by a re-
917 cently developed technique based on the compar-
918 ison of
187
osmium/
188
osmium at the time of gen-
919 eration (Os
g
) and platinum/palladium(Pt/Pd) ratios
920 in oils and their potential source units (Selby et al.,
921 2011). Moreover, Orr (2001) listed oils and tars
922 in reservoirs of the Mannville Group that were
923 indicative of type II-S kerogen and, as indicated
924 by kerogen analysis (Riediger et al., 1990a; Asgar-
925 Deen et al., 2004), the only important source in-
926 terval containing II-S organic matter within the
927 study area is the Fernie Group.
928 In Figure 8, the Gordondale Member contrib-
929 utes more than five times more petroleum to the
930 Mannville layer than the Exshaw Formation. This
Figure 8. Cumulative oil contributions
from the modeled source rocks to the
Mannville Group reservoirs using an im-
permeable barrier covering the northern
limits of Alberta and the eastern edge of
the Athabasca accumulation.
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931 same model also proposes that more than 54% of
932 the oil volume in all present-day individual accu-
933 mulations corresponds to Gordondale-sourced pe-
934 troleum, whereas the contribution from Exshaw
935 never exceeds 15%. This set of results is in agree-
936 ment with the proposition that oils in the WCSB
937 were mainly sourced by rocks of the Jurassic Fernie
938 Group (Lewan et al., 2008; Higley et al., 2009;
939 Selby et al., 2011).
940
941 Source Rock Sensitivity
942 Our initial TOC and HI values are reasonable
943 based on available data. However, a significant part
944 of the kitchen areas of the modeled source rocks
Figure 9. Implementation of an impermeable barrier in the Mannville Group reservoirs to enhance the trapping efficiency of the three-
dimensional model. View at 55 (A), 50 (B), 40 (C), and 30 (D) Ma. Present-day oil accumulations are represented in bright green. The
gray shape represents the evolution of the impermeable barrier through time.
Berbesi et al. 17
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945 are located beneath the Rocky Mountains, where
946 source rock occurrence and properties are uncertain.
947 Therefore, considering these uncertainties as well as
948 the known source rock heterogeneity, we conducted
949 a sensitivity study of TOC and HI values for the
950 Gordondale Member and Exshaw Formation.
951 Increasing the TOC value for the Gordondale
952 source rock results in generation and accumulation
953 volumes that explain the amounts of petroleum in
954 the Alberta deposits, suggesting a strong predom-
955 inance of Fernie oils, with only minor contribu-
956 tions from other source rocks. Using a TOC of
957 15% and an HI of 600 mg HC/g TOC for the
958 Exshaw Formation result in 860 billion m
3
total
959 oil from Devonian to Lower Cretaceous sources,
960 from which 250 billion m
3
are produced only by
961 the Exshaw Formation. Nevertheless, within the
962 Lower Cretaceous reservoirs, Gordondale-sourced
Figure 10. Thickness of the
Exshaw layer (A) applied to the
initial configuration of our mod-
el. It corresponds to the thickness
applied by Higley et al. (2009).
(B) Applied in the revised version
of the model that considers
thickening of the Exshaw For-
mation from eastern to western
Alberta. Subtle thickness increase
in southern Saskatchewan was
not intended and resulted from
the methodology described in
the text. However, because this
section was modeled as non-
generative, it did not influence
the observed differences in gen-
erated and accumulated masses
with respect to the initial version
of the model.
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963 oil represents 75% for AthabascaCold Lake and
964 70% for Peace River, with Exshaw-sourced petro-
965 leum representing less than 5% of the oil volumes
966 in these reservoirs.
967 The other revised source rock parameter was
968 thickness of the ExshawFormation. Initial thickness
969 assigned to this source rock in Alberta is generally
970 less than 8 m (26 ft) (Figure 10A), which is in ac-
971 cordance with the previous model of Alberta and
972 data published by Caplan and Bustin (1996). How-
973 ever, some literature indicates an increasing thick-
974 ness of this formation from east to southwestern
975 Alberta. For example, Savoy et al. (1999) and Smith
976 and Bustin (2000) indicate a thin Exshaw Forma-
977 tion for most of the study area but describe thick-
978 ening in some areas in western Alberta, where the
979 lower black shale member can have a thickness of
980 20 m (65.6 ft) or more. Because the kitchen areas
981 are located in the western part of the model, we
982 addressed the effects of variations in the thickness
983 of the western areas of the Exshaw layer.
984 We did this by creating a model that contains
985 the same input data used for the first simulations
986 of our expanded model (Table 1) but also includes
987 the stratigraphic barrier described in section B. As-
988 signed thickness for the Exshaw Formation was
989 fromapproximately 3 m(9.9 ft) in Athabasca to
990 an average of 25 m (82 ft) in the kitchen areas
991 beneath the Rocky Mountains (Figure 10B). This
992 was achieved through uniform thickening of the
993 entire Exshaw layer that, given its geometry, af-
994 fected mostly the kitchen areas located west of
995 Alberta. This modification did not influence the
996 predicted timing of oil generation, which is con-
997 trolled by the thermal history of the basin and the
998 deposition history of the overburden rock (Deming,
999 1994). However, effects of this change are seen in
1000 the volumes of generated oil and the composition
1001 of the modeled accumulations.
1002 This revised model resulted in more than 700
1003 billion m
3
(>4402 billion bbl) of Exshaw-sourced
1004 oil (Figure 11), followed by 400 billion m
3
(2515
1005 billion bbl) of oil generated by the Gordondale
1006 Member and minor amounts fromthe other source
1007 rocks, giving a total of 1300 billion m
3
(8173 bil-
1008 lion bbl) of generated petroleum.
1009 The volume of trapped of oil within Mannville
1010 strata (Figure 12) is 303 billion m
3
(1905 billion
1011 bbl), from which approximately 280 billion m
3
1012 (1761 billion bbl) is in the Athabasca and Cold
1013 Lake accumulations. This represents 28%more oil
1014 than the initial present-day estimates for this area
1015 (National Energy Board Canada, 2010), even when
1016 the model does not include what are believed to be
1017 the main sources for the Cold Lake accumulations.
1018 For the Peace River accumulation, the model pre-
1019 dicts 24 billion m
3
(151 billion bbl) of oil, which
1020 is also higher than initial estimates of 20.5 billion
1021 m
3
(126 billion bbl) for this area. These results
1022 appear reasonable especially because our modeling
1023 software does not consider petroleum mass loss
1024 caused by biodegradation.
1025 Our revised model proposes that the Exshaw
1026 Formation provided 41% of the oil within the
Figure 11. Cumulative oil generation
from the main modeled source rocks when
the thickness of the layer corresponding
to the Exshaw source rock is increased.
Berbesi et al. 19
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1027 Athabasca and Cold Lake accumulation, followed
1028 by a 35% of contribution from the Gordondale
1029 Member and minor amounts fromthe other source
1030 rocks. From eastern to western Alberta, the im-
1031 portance of the contribution from the Gordondale
1032 source rock increases. The same model predicts that
1033 52% of the oil in the Peace River deposit originated
1034 from the Gordondale source rock. These results
1035 generally agree with those of Adams et al. (2010),
1036 although our model does not suggest an important
1037 contribution from the Duvernay Formation.
1038 This model manages to reproduce both the vol-
1039 umes and compositions of the main oil accumula-
1040 tions in the WCSB, favoring published results pro-
1041 posing the Exshaw Formation as the main source
1042 rock in the basin(Fowler et al., 2001; Riediger et al.,
1043 2001; Adams et al., 2010). However, one main limi-
1044 tation of this model exists that must be taken into
1045 account until new accurate data are available to sup-
1046 port or contradict the assumedsource rockproperties.
1047 Although some studies (Savoy et al., 1999; Smith
1048 andBustin, 2000) indicate thickening of the Exshaw
1049 Formation(including the lower black shale member)
1050 to the west of Alberta, no data are available to sup-
1051 port the modeling assumptionthat the TOCcontent
1052 remains constant through all the generative section.
1053 Besides, many studies on DevonianMississippian
1054 source rocks in North America (Schmoker, 1980;
1055 Robl et al., 1983; Comer, 1991, 1992) show an in-
1056 verse relationbetweenTOCandthickness as a result
1057 of some degree of organic matter dilution by addi-
1058 tional sedimentary contributions.
1059 When this thicker Exshaw layer is assigned
1060 only half of the initial TOC content, the Gordon-
1061 dale source rock is the dominant contributor at
1062 43% of the oil in Athabasca, followed by Exshaw
1063 (26%), Doig (23%), and less than 1% from each
1064 of the other source rocks. Very similar trends are
1065 obtained when the 25-m (82-ft) average thick Ex-
1066 shaw is split into two equivalent layers, with only
1067 the lower member modeled as generator, with ini-
1068 tial TOC and HI contents as indicated in Table 1.
1069 Based on these results, unless new data demonstrate
1070 that the thicker western parts of the Exshaw For-
1071 mation possess immature TOC levels of 9% or more
1072 across all of its extension, modeling results based on
1073 available data continue to support the Gordondale
1074 Member of the Fernie Group as the main con-
1075 tributor to the oil sand deposits in the WCSB.
1076
1077 CONCLUSIONS
1078 A 3-D model of the WCSB was constructed and
1079 calibrated to well data. Thermal calibration results
1080 propose heat-flowvalues between 45 and 75 mW/
1081 m
2
and total erosion of up to 1400 m (4593 ft),
1082 coinciding well with previously reported values.
1083 All the modeled source rocks reached early or
1084 main oil generation before 60 Ma, when the onset
1085 of the Laramide orogeny occurred. Our model sup-
1086 ports the possibility of long-distance migration of
1087 oil from the Gordondale source rock proposed by
1088 Higley et al. (2009) and does not consider this as
1089 a limitation for a contribution from Jurassic oils to
1090 the Lower Cretaceous accumulations. Without ap-
1091 propriate barriers, our model generates large and
1092 shallow oil accumulations along the Precambrian
Figure 12. Cumulative oil contribution
from the main source rocks to the Manville
Group reservoirs as a function of time.
Average thickness of the kitchen areas
of the Exshaw Formation is 25 m (82 ft).
An impermeable barrier is present in the
areas shown in Figure 9D before the oil
starts reaching the reservoir layer.
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1093 shield in Saskatchewan and most of the oil escapes
1094 through the northern limits of Athabasca. The
1095 coarse grid size needed for simulations does not
1096 allow reproduction of the subtle structures that
1097 improve the trapping efficiency in the natural sys-
1098 tem; however, the incorporation of stratigraphic
1099 seals within the reservoir layer trapped the accu-
1100 mulated volumes and hindered the remigration
1101 of oil, making the modeled accumulations stable
1102 through time. These results support the strati-
1103 graphic control to the northeast of Athabasca
1104 proposed by Ranger (2006). The effect of addi-
1105 tional trapping caused by seals formed by biode-
1106 gradation of petroleum was found to be minor,
1107 and its influence is proposed to be restricted only
1108 to the north of Athabasca.
1109 Having improved the trapping efficiency of
1110 the model, our initial source rock definition results
1111 in about 230 billion m
3
(1450 billion bbl) of oil
1112 reaching the strata of the Mannville Group. At
1113 individual accumulations, the Gordondale source
1114 rock appears to contribute more than 54% of the
1115 oil, whereas the contribution from the Exshaw
1116 Formation never exceeds 15%.
1117 The proposed strong contribution of Exshaw
1118 products to the Athabasca oil sands can be only
1119 supported by the model when the initial thickness
1120 in the kitchen areas of the Exshawlayer is increased
1121 to an average of 25 m (82 ft). However, until new
1122 data can demonstrate that the Exshaw Formation
1123 possesses TOClevels of 9%or more across its entire
1124 extension beneath the Rocky Mountains, our re-
1125 sults support that the Gordondale Member of the
1126 Fernie Group was the main contributor to the oil
1127 sands in the WCSB.
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