PETROLEUM 



267 



the Athabasca Valley, and indeed in the Mackenzie Basin 

 generally. 



' Reference must be made to the indications that a mineral 

 asset of the Mackenzie Basin, and one of enormous importance, 

 is oil, for it appears from the evidence that here is one of the 

 largest areas of oil-bearing country yet unexplored on the face 

 of the earth. It is estimated that the rocks, the, Devonian 



OILFIELD IN TRINIDAD 



strata, which are believed to be the source of this oil, cover 

 an area of not less than 300,000 square miles. 



' It is hardly possible to exaggerate the importance of this 

 deposit, the exploitation of which cannot be long deferred, 

 for the oil reserves of the United States are estimated by the 

 United States Geological Survey to be sufficient at the present 

 rate of output for about thirty years, and no other part of the 

 North American Continent gives such promise of new oilfields 

 as the Basin of the Mackenzie River.' l 



Shale Oil or Paraffin. Shale is hardened clay, and when 



1 Dominions Royal Commission. 



