FIELD RESEARCH · REVIEWED 9 OCTOBER 2026
Wildcat the Delta.
Develop a thermal pair.
These are regional learning scenarios. Individual trajectories, formation depths, net pay, numerical thresholds, economics and test results are fictional. This page provides an evidence map and selected well references, not a complete modern census of every Mackenzie well or all geological knowledge. The official formation-top catalogue and well-history search below provide the route into the wider public record.
Mackenzie Delta: choose the right play
The June 2022 NTGS synthesis describes a prograding delta in the Beaufort–Mackenzie rift-margin basin. Its historical compilation reports 285 exploration wells and 59 oil/gas fields across the broader basin, including gas-hydrate research wells. Those are basin-wide historical figures, not a current onshore Delta well count.
| Play / evidence | Geological distinction | Game use |
|---|---|---|
| Taglu onshore | Paleocene–Eocene Taglu (Reindeer) deltaic sandstone; fault closure, sealing and shale-out matter. | Gas-prone wildcat target with appraisal and fault-compartment uncertainty. |
| Ivik onshore | Upper Richards / lower Kugmallit delta-front sandstone. | A separate shallower oil/gas opportunity, not the same reservoir renamed. |
| Parsons Lake / basin margin | Lower Cretaceous reservoirs belong to a different play from the younger onshore deltaic targets. | Research reference; not artificially inserted into the playable lease's composite column. |
| Offshore and hydrate research | Offshore plays include deltaic and deeper-water turbidite settings. Mallik 2L-38 documents hydrate research. | No assumption that hydrate is a conventional gas producer or that offshore discoveries are onshore offsets. |
NTGS Petroleum Play Summary 3 — June 2022 supplies the play framework and historical basin totals. Original Parsons Lake geological paper addresses the basin-margin gas field.
Wells, logs and offset research
Taglu G-33 is identified as the discovery well in GSC Open File 1926. Taglu C-42 provides Reindeer sandstone core evidence in GSC Open File 872. Mallik 2L-38 is a gas-hydrate research reference in the NTGS summary. Taglu, Parsons Lake and Niglintgak are the fields associated with the historical Mackenzie Gas Project; they are not promises of production from a new wildcat.
- CER formation-top catalogue and resource assessments: the December 2013 downloadable table includes well names, unique identifiers, formations, measured depths, TVD/elevations and geographical descriptions. It covers non-confidential federal wells and is not a complete 2026 census.
- NTGS reference and well-history search: select “Well History Report” and search a well name; inspect logs, tests and original reports before using any offset.
- GSC Open File 1926 and GSC Open File 872: historical exploration and geological references. Repository upload dates are not the dates the wells were drilled.
Discovery does not equal export revenue
The Mackenzie Gas Project partners announced on 22 December 2017 that they would not proceed and would dissolve the joint venture. The GNWT's October 2023 Delta LNG report is a pre-feasibility study, not an operating export connection or a committed startup date.
Mackenzie Delta unlocks after a successful Nevada geothermal project. In this game a successful Delta flow test creates a persistent suspended discovery: its oil/gas identity, costs and score remain in My oilfield, while sales revenue and producing-well unlock credit remain zero. Players can explore another field while waiting. There is no automatic calendar payout or assumed pipeline completion date in this release.
This does not mean the entire North has never produced gas. Ikhil has supplied Inuvik locally; local supply and a new export-connected wildcat are different cases. The playable scenario is onshore and fictional.
- Project participants' 2017 announcement
- GNWT Delta LNG pre-feasibility study — October 2023
- CER NWT energy profile — production and infrastructure context
Peace River: Bluesky and Gething
Peace River bitumen occurs in the basal Cretaceous succession. Published regional sedimentology distinguishes fluvial/non-marine Gething deposits, brackish Ostracode intervals and marginal-marine estuarine Bluesky sands. Mud-rich beds and variable sand continuity matter to thermal communication. The game offers a selected Bluesky sand and a separate Gething prospect, each with synthetic geometry.
A 2007 Shell/CSPG-CSEG reservoir-characterization paper describes a lower tide-dominated deltaic Bluesky interval with laminated thin clay drapes and an upper estuarine interval with stacked tidal channels and abandonment facies. It also reports contrasting modelled reservoir quality and explains that integrated core, logs, seismic and facies modelling informed thermal-well placement. The game therefore draws coherent internal drapes, carries the same geometry from producer to injector, and tests communication against both paths. The exact lens positions, thicknesses, intersections, temperature response, costs and value effects are illustrative game parameters—not a Carmon Creek model or an operating procedure.
Peace River is not synonymous with SAGD. AER operator presentations document Peace River CSS operations. The requested two-horizontal-well challenge is a SAGD-style fictional suitable lease, not a reproduction of a named producing pad. AER describes the standard SAGD concept as an upper steam injector roughly five metres above a lower producer: heating reduces bitumen viscosity so it can drain to the lower well.
- Shell / CSPG-CSEG 2007 — Bluesky reservoir characterization
- AGS WCSB Atlas, Chapter 19 — Mannville stratigraphy and facies
- Original regional geology and sedimentology study
- Canadian Natural Peace River performance presentation — 2022, scheme 8143
- AER — SAGD and CSS explained
How the paired-well challenge works
- Drill and evaluate the pilot; choose the thermal reservoir.
- Steer the lower build section and 900 m producer lateral. The brown internal drapes are the actual schematic barriers later used in the communication review. A lined lower bore alone earns no payout.
- Fund the separate injector. Its surface section is costed; you steer the full build section and 900 m upper lateral. The gold line is the actual lower-well survey, and the same mud-drape geometry remains in place.
- Follow the cyan route nominally 5 m above the producer. The game counts contact at 3.5–6.5 m separation and stops a run at 2 m or less lateral clearance. These are game thresholds, not engineering limits; real collision avoidance is three-dimensional and uncertainty-aware.
- Test both liners, resolve caprock/thermal integrity, then acquire fixed distributed-temperature and pulse-response evidence across the mapped drapes. Rushing this gate adds remediation and a persistent simulated project-value penalty; it still cannot bypass the evidence requirement.
- Resolve water/recycle/heat-loss issues and bank one thermal development project containing both bores and all costs. Startup duration is compressed. The existing well/project ledger preserves the result.
Regional challenges are based on physical mechanisms; exact event timing, baffle geometry, temperature and pressure response, numerical thresholds and economics are authored gameplay. Use original well and project records for real geological or engineering work.