NovaScotiaEnergyResearchandDevelopmentForum2012

Dr.RobertMerrill

Biography
Dr. Robert Merrill is VicePresident and Exploration Manager of Ammonite Nova Scotia Corporation. Dr. MerrillsinterestinAtlanticNorthAmericabeganover35yearsagowhenhefirststartedworkwithCities Service Oil and Gas Corporation in 1974. At Cities, he was involved with a comprehensive analysis of the structureandstratigraphyoftheNorthAmericancontinentalshelffromFloridatoGreenland.Inadditionto CitiesService,BobhasworkedwithOccidentalPetroleum,UnocalandtheSamsonCompaniesexploringin North America and internationally. In 2005, Dr. Merrill formed Catheart Energy as an independent explorationandconsultingcompanyevaluatingexplorationopportunities,andheteachesaclassoncuttings and core description. In 2008, together with G. Warfield Hobbs, he formed Ammonite Nova Scotia Corporation to pursue oil and gas opportunities offshore Nova Scotia. Dr. Merrill has a PhD and MS in Geology from Arizona State University, and a BA in Geology from Colby College. He is a Fellow of the GeologicalSocietyofAmerica,aCharteredGeologistwiththeGeologicalSociety;hehasservedasSecretary andPresidentoftheAmericanInstituteofProfessionalGeologists,andisanactivememberoftheAmerican AssociationofPetroleumGeologists.

PresentationAbstract:DeepPenobscot,AnAnaloguetoDeepPanuke AremoreJurassicReefsLurkingOffshoreNovaScotia?
TheDeepPanukeJurassicreefdiscoveryoffshoreNovaScotiaCanadaisduetobeginproductioninmid2012. ThisdiscoveryisthefirstproductionfromlateJurassicreefsinNorthAmericaoutsideoftheGulfofMexico. Reprocessing old seismic data clearly defined the extension of the Abenaki platform to the northeast and identifiedapotentiallyhydrocarbonchargedreefnearthePenobscotL30well.ThisPenobscotreeftothe northoftheDeepPanukediscoveryisasecondpotentialproducingreefbuiltontheJurassiccarbonatebank thatextendsalongtheeasterncontinentalmarginofNorthAmericafromtheBahamastoNovaScotia. Biostratigraphic and seismic correlations of the Abenaki Carbonate Platform between Penobscot and the EncanaDeepPanukeFieldindicatethatinthePenobscotL30areatheBaccaroReefwasoverwhelmedby theprogradingMissisaugaDeltaintheearlyMiddleTithonian(LateJurassic),buttheBaccaroReefcontinued tobuildintotheLateTithonianatDeepPanuke.ThisinterpretationindicatesthatthegasreservoiratDeep Panuke is Middle to Late Kimmeridgian age. Seismic interpretation highlights amplitude anomalies in the Baccaro Reef north of the Penobscot L30 well. These amplitude anomalies are confirmed by spectral anomalieswhichsuggestthatporosityinthePenobscotReefisprobablyincarbonatesofKimmeridgianor Oxfordianage. BothareasaremarkedbyfaultsnearthefrontofthereefthatextendfromtheJurassicintotheoverlying Missisauga, providing migration pathways for the light oil accumulation at Panuke Field, and the light oil tested in the Penobscot L30 well. Reef porosity in both areas is likely dominated by hydrothermal dolomitization,whichmeansthatlithologyandfaultingratherthanageequivalencyarethecriticalelements forreservoirdevelopment.ItisthoughtthattheoilandgaslikelyoriginatedfromanearlyJurassicsource rock,whichhasalsobeenhypothesizedintherecentlypublishedPlayFairwayAnalysis.Theidentificationof potential reservoir anomalies in the Abenaki near Penobscot and the production at Deep Panuke suggests thattheapplicationofmodernseismictechniqueswilllikelyresultinthediscoveryofadditionalreefsinthe JurassiccarbonateplayfairwayalongtheeasternAtlanticcontinentalmarginofNorthAmerica.