THE TRENTON/BLACK RIVER HYDROTHERMAL DOLOMITE PLAY OF ANTICOSTI ISLAND, QUEBEC

The Trenton/Black River play is one of the oldest plays in the world, having served a major role in starting such companies as Standard Oil and Marathon in the late 1800’s. Recently, the play has gained renewed interest following significant discoveries in West Virginia and New York. Anticosti Island is a large area (>3000 mi2) with only two wells that can be considered tests of the Trenton/Black River, which occurs at a depth between 800 and 2000 m

The current working model for exploring the TBR is to look for: 1) sag features on the top of the Trenton, 2) early infill of the sag, 3) an underlying structural feature (such as a fault) that focussed hydrothermal fluids, 4) a seismically quiet zone (due to faulting/dolomitization), and 5) local evidence of dolomitization and hydrocarbons. We will show that the Anticosti area displays all these features.

In addition, the Jupiter Fault Zone of Anticosti Island is a very large strike-slip fault feature that is similar to the Bowling Green Fault Zone of the Lima-Indiana Trend that produced hundreds of millions of barrels of oil. Three wells drilled near the Jupiter Fault Zone show thick hydrocarbon columns that bode well for hydrocarbon trapping within the Jupiter Fault. One of those, the NACP well, contains dolomite and oil-filled vugs and fractures throughout the Trenton/Black River and the underlying Romaine Formation.