Quebec: Junex 2D seismic nears in Macasty shale quest

July 16, 2012
Junex, Quebec City, has begun line-cutting for a 250 line-km 2D seismic program to evaluate the oil potential of the Macasty shale and deeper geologic horizons on five permits totaling 233,275 acres on Anticosti Island in the Gulf of St. Lawrence offshore Quebec.

Junex, Quebec City, has begun line-cutting for a 250 line-km 2D seismic program to evaluate the oil potential of the Macasty shale and deeper geologic horizons on five permits totaling 233,275 acres on Anticosti Island in the Gulf of St. Lawrence offshore Quebec.

Vertical and horizontal drilling phases could follow if the seismic identifies promising targets. Junex interprets the top of Macasty to be at 800-2,200 m deep and in the oil window.

The Macasty is the stratigraphic equivalent of the Utica shale in the St. Lawrence Lowlands and the oil-rich Utica/Point Pleasant shale in Ohio. Junex’s mapping indicates that the Macasty averages 80 m in thickness, twice that encountered in wells previously drilled by other operators outside the Deep Macasty Fairway.

About the Author

Alan Petzet | Chief Editor Exploration

Alan Petzet is Chief Editor-Exploration of Oil & Gas Journal in Houston. He is editor of the Weekly E&D Newsletter, emailed to OGJ subscribers, and a regular contributor to the OGJ Online subscriber website.

Petzet joined OGJ in 1981 after 13 years in the Tulsa World business-oil department. He was named OGJ Exploration Editor in 1990. A native of Tulsa, he has a BA in journalism from the University of Tulsa.