Geology of the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin
June 4th, 5th and 6th, 2013

Very few among us starting work in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin (WCSB) have ever had the opportunity to review the framework of the basin, its stratigraphy, and the oil and gas traps that make the WCSB one of the most prolific basins in the world. This three-day course is designed to rectify this problem, and should benefit new explorationists, technicians, engineers, landmen, managers and investors who wish to improve their geological understanding of where and how we look for oil and gas in Western Canada. It is recommended that registrants be graduate geologists, geophysicists, engineers, or their technicians etc. or industry personnel that have taken either the “Overview of the Oil & Gas Industry in Western Canada” or “Geology for Non-Geologists” as a prerequisite.

Participants will find it beneficial to have a basic understanding of the sedimentary rocks and the stratigraphy of the basin, as well as - paleontolgy (fossils), the drilling techniques used, and the importance of seismic. Participants should also be familiar with wireline logs, cross-sections and basic mapping techniques.

Our challenge is to study what happened to the rocks that may have been buried thousands of feet below the surface. We want to know how these rocks were formed, how they were affected by events stretching back millions of years, and how we can identify traps where oil and gas have accumulated within the rock formations.

We will review the importance of each major stratigraphic unit, including the Devonian, Mississippian, Triassic and Cretaceous. Examples of over 50 typical oil and gas fields and their seismic expression will be examined.

A valuable component of the course is when participants complete a set of ten maps which summarize each of the major periods of basin evolution, documenting wedge edges, major fields, facies, structural elements, etc. The knowledge learned from this course is immediately transferable to the workplace. Participants receive a comprehensive manual full of maps, cross-sections, field descriptions and a glossary of oil and gas terms, which will act as a valuable future reference.

What People Say:

"Every day I look at logs, put cross-sections together, do mapping, trying to evaluate land. Now I have a better understanding and appreciation of what I am looking at."

"I would highly recommend this course to technicians or anyone who has been in the oil and gas industry for a while and working with geologists."

"This is one of the best courses I've ever attended!"

"Very comprehensive and a lot to take away to use at work - very useful maps. It provided an excellent understanding of 'the big picture' - The 'Face of Time' maps were particularly good for envisioning environments and facies."

" Thank You - a very interesting and beneficial course. I got 'excited' about the oil business after being in the mineral business for some 35 years."

" The displays and illustrations are one of the best sets of
materials I have received from any course - this is the best 3-day
course I have attended."

"As a financial person, I have learned a lot of geological
terminology and concepts over the years and this course helped
organize and build on these concepts for a much better
understanding that I can apply to my job."

"My area focuses on the new emerging plays in the WCSB, so this course is directly applicable."

"Like the hands-on aspect...the binder and cross-sections will be
invaluable as will the pool summaries."

"The course manual is my new bible. The whole course was execellent and very informative."

"The best combination of course materials and presentation that I have ever attended."