Possibilities of the Oil Resources of Canada 39 



THE POSSIBILITIES OF THE OIL RESOURCES OF CANADA. 



By D. B. Dowling. 



The mobility of liquid fuel introduces into the question of a survey of 

 oil resources many problems quite foreign to the study of the coal 

 measures. Certain formations indicate the probable presence of either 

 of these resources, and generally the formations carrying oil precede in 

 time of formation those carrying coal. The influence of earth movements 

 and the introduction of compressive strains generally harden and con- 

 solidate the coal, but have the effect on the semi-fluid matter of increasing 

 its fluidity, and so hastening its segregation into pools, or even of facilitat- 

 ing its escape from the beds through fissures or along the porous beds to 

 natural outlets. The survey of these resources, in addition to the 

 superficial mapping of the areas, include also studies of the physical 

 condition of the beds presumed to be oil-bearing. As already suggested, 

 excessive fracturing and disturbance indicate a possible waste, whereas 

 gently flexed beds may provide many structures favourable for the 

 retention and collection of the oil. 



The study of our probable fields must consequently include the out- 

 lining of the deposits in which oil has been found in other parts of the 

 continent, a careful study of the general structure with the view of 

 eventually eliminating those portions from which the reserves may be 

 deemed to have been drained, and selecting for prospecting those parts 

 which give some promise of success. The term prospecting is not applied 

 here in the same sense in which it is used when referring to the search for 

 other minerals, but generally involves the actual drilling of wells to test 

 the measures, which should be undertaken only after the preliminary 

 examination outlined above. 



The granites of the Canadian shield represent parts of the older con- 

 tinent; upon this rest the stratified beds, in which are entombed the 

 rem.ains of the passing life of the earth. Much of this represents the life 

 in the sea, and the great mass consists of the simpler forms. These appear 

 to have furnished the material which is altered to oil, while the plant life 

 in the marshes and lagoons and near the shores appears to have been pre- 

 served as coal. Large areas of these rocks have been stripped from the 

 granite base, leaving bare the " Canadian shield ", which must be excluded 

 from our possible oil fields, and other areas are broken, folded, and faulted, 

 so that careful examination will eliminate parts where it would be useless 



