Exploratory drilling in western Canada increased by 21% in 1987 whereas total drilling increased by 32%. The seismic crew count increased 4% to 671 crew-months, and land expenditures increased 166% to $793 million.(FOOTNOTE 5)

No major plays broke during 1987 in western Canada. The 2 major plays resulting from 1986 activity--Caroline, Alberta, and Tableland, Saskatchewan--continued to expand in 1987. By year end at Caroline, industry drilled 14 wells, which included 6 Swan Hills gas wells, 3 uphole gas wells, 3 wells standing or suspended, and 2 dry holes. The reserves for this field now are 17 billion m³ of sales gas, 32 million m³ of condensate, and 20 million MT of sulfur. At Tableland and surrounding areas, industry has drilled 11 oil wells and 16 dry holes. No overall reserve figures have been published for this play.

In Alberta, operators had their best exploratory oil success in the Cretaceous Second White Specks and in the Devonian Nisku, Leduc, Gilwood, and Keg River; the best exploratory gas success was in the Cretaceous Viking and Paddy, and Devonian Nisku and Leduc. In British Columbia, gas drilling was successful in the Cretaceous of the Deep Basin, as well as in the Mississippian Kiskatinaw and the Triassic Halfway. In Saskatchewan, both the shallow Cretaceous gas play and the deep Devonian Winnipegosis oil play continued to expand, whereas in Manitoba the main exploration target was the Mississippian carbonates and Bakken Formation. The Northwest Territories, Beaufort Sea, and Arctic Islands had a poor year, with only 4 exploratory wells drilled--all dry holes.