ABSTRACT

The Grand Forks field in south-central Alberta produces 26° API oil from a Lower Cretaceous sand of Neocomian to Aptian age. The sand is a single-cycle insert channel sand trending in a northwest to southeast direction along the subcrop edge of the Jurassic. The Jurassic has been incised to an extent sufficient to place the pay sand in contact with the underlying Sawtooth.

Primary features are common, consisting mainly of black laminae dipping at high angles. Grain-size analyses reveal a high degree of sorting.

The field average porosity is 25 per cent and the average permeability 3000 md. Average connate-water saturation has been determined from cores taken in oil to be 25 per cent. Production is currently at 2,600 BOPD (410 m³/d). When secondary recovery techniques are implemented the field is expected to have a potential of 12,000 BOPD (1900 m³/d).

The field has been outlined by drilling, with 24 wells either on production or capable of production. These wells produce from a pay section up to 88 ft (26.8 m) thick, revealing a reservoir containing approximately 100 million barrels (16 10⁶ m³) of oil in place.