The production of petroleum and natural gas in eastern Canada during 1968 was 1,158,348 bbl and 12,455,044 Mcf, respectively. This represents a decline of 90,648 bbl of oil and 1,942,103 Mcf of gas from that of the previous year.

In southwestern Ontario, 73 exploratory tests and 79 development wells were completed during the year. This represents an increase of 5 exploratory and 12 development wells from the previous year. A general increase in drilling, combined with the trend toward Cambrian and deeper Silurian drilling in the lower basinal areas, accounted for an increase of 28% in total footage drilled in 1968 over the previous year.

In the Hudson Bay region, private industry and various government agencies completed 14 crew-months of combined geologic and geophysical work. One deep stratigraphic test was completed to Precambrian basement rocks on the southern rim of the Hudson Bay basin.

In the sedimentary basins of Quebec, exploratory activity was confined to geologic and geophysical surveys; 9 crew-months were completed by industry and 12.5 crew-months by Quebec Provincial organizations.

In the Atlantic provinces, considerable interest was focused on the offshore continental margins. Offshore holdings increased by more than 50 million acres in 1968, to an all time high of 205,135,880 acres. Although industry accounted for 36 1/3 crew-months of geologic and geophysical work in the offshore areas, there was no exploratory drilling. Onshore, 1 exploratory well was completed in the Cape Breton Island area of Nova Scotia.