Abstract

In the offshore of Nova Scotia there are development projects which have been delayed due to the impact of lower international oil prices. One of these is the development of the Cohasset-Panuke oil trend. Although small by Canadian standards, these accumulations present an intriguing story and raise a number of questions. The oils at Cohasset come from zones dominated by organic matter of a terrestrial origin. Purcell (1979) indicated that these productive horizons lie within a marginally mature zone (vitrinite reflectance of 0.5% Ro). Investigations have been undertaken in an attempt to explain the presence of the oil.

The Cohasset experience provided some confidence for investigation of the Panuke structure, on trend to the southwest. The drilling of two wells established another oil accumulation. The delineation well was used to demonstrate the viability of a simple production technique which yielded the first oil produced from the east coast offshore.

Important questions have been raised by these discoveries. What is the source of the oil? Are the accumulations predictable? Finding the answers to these questions will provide a challenge and will likely evolve into a new exploration trend.