Western Canada's well-kept Viking secret

摘要

It seems like a well-kept secret— an estimated 5 billion barrels of light, sweet oil in North America, in a 130- to 160-foot-thick formation about 2,100 feet deep, tapped by relatively short horizontal-drilling techniques. The Viking formation occurs in Alberta and Saskatchewan and is one of the largest established unconventional light-oil prospects. According to a Macquarie Capital Markets Canada report, horizontal drilling and multistage fracturing have made it a highly viable oil reserve.