Abstract

The Shaunavon Formation has been a known oil producer in southwestern Saskatchewan for over half a century. Initial production came from the Delta field (Township 15 Range 19 West of the Third Meridian) in mid-1952, and was followed shortly thereafter by a second producer in the Eastend field (Township 6 Range 20 West of the Third Meridian) later in the same year. The Shaunavon Formation is divided into two members (Figure 1): the upper member contains a mixture of clastic and carbonate sediments, and the lower member consists of fairly homogeneous carbonate rocks. The majority of the early production from the Shaunavon Formation in southwestern Saskatchewan was limited to isolated mixed clastic/carbonate shoreline bodies of the upper member. As of November 2010, there have been 2279 wells drilled into, and have at some time produced oil from, the highly heterogeneous Upper Shaunavon Formation in the southwest of the province. Cumulative production from the upper member is in the order of 59.1x10⁶m³ (372MMBbl) since 1952, which includes an increase of 705.5x10³m³ (4.4MMBbl) since January 2008.