ABSTRACT

The Peace River Arch area in northwestern Alberta and northeastern British Columbia is one of the most active petroleum exploration areas in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. Hydrocarbons have been found in units ranging from Devonian to Cretaceous. A computer-based Quantitative Basin Analysis System (QBAS) has been developed and applied to the study area to provide a quantitative description of basin evolution and the potential for hydrocarbon generation, migration and accumulation. Data from about 27,000 wells have been processed and analyzed to give present-day stratigraphy, lithology, and hydrogeological and geothermal regimes. Regional burial history and thermal history have been reconstructed through modelling of sediment compaction and fluid flow to investigate basement subsidence, sediment deposition and thermal maturation of sediments. Hydrocarbon generation has been simulated through kinetic modelling of kerogen degradation to estimate the hydrocarbon potential and timing of hydrocarbon generation and migration. Hubbert's method has been used for the evaluation of hydrodynamic entrapment of hydrocarbons.

The results obtained, so far, show that: 1) paleoheat flow in most of the region was lower than present-day heat flow; 2) paleoheat flow on the Arch was higher than off the Arch, supporting the proposed Paleozoic rifting origin of the arch; 3) most of the source rocks entered the "oil window" during Late Cretaceous time; and 4) maturation of the source rocks has been influenced by the regional subsidence, uplift and subsequent erosion associated with the Cretaceous-Tertiary unconformity, during which time source rocks reached their deepest burial depth and highest temperature.

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