?Canada has a reservoir beneath its Bakken formation that is hosting a lively play, reminiscent of the Three Forks targets that are generating high interest on the U.S. side of the Williston Basin.


In an area along the Sas­katchewan-Manitoba border, Maple Leaf operators are busily developing the Upper Devonian Torquay, a formation that underlies the Bakken. The Torquay is composed of dolomitic mudstones and siltstones. It’s a weathered, brecciated formation with good reservoir characteristics.


In places where the Lower Bakken shale is absent and the Torquay onlaps the Middle Bakken, the Torquay has been charged with Bakken oil.


Initially, operators drilled vertical wells into the formation. The focus has recently shifted to horizontal drilling.


Fairborne Energy Ltd., an active participant, reports that it is currently interpreting data from a 42-square-mile 3-D survey that it shot in the Sinclair area.??It recently drilled 10 horizontal wells that have average per-well production of approximately 65 barrels of oil equivalent per day.