Stratigraphic and diagenetic controls on aquitard integrity and hydrocarbon entrapment, Bashaw Reef Complex, Alberta, Canada

his study is an investigation of aquitard characterization and hydrocarbon entrapment in the area of the Bashaw Reef Complex, east-central Alberta. Hydrocarbon pool distribution in the Upper Devonian (Frasnian) dolostone reservoirs of the Leduc Formation and in the overlying Nisku Formation and Camrose Member is controlled by the effectiveness of a relatively thin aquitard in the Ireton Formation that separates the two reservoir intervals. Over the Bashaw Reef Complex, the Ireton aquitard commonly is ;Facies variations in the Ireton aquitard are characterized by an increase in carbonate context from 50% in off-reef areas to ;Subsequent petroleum entrapment within the Bashaw Reef Complex mostly occurred within the present-day highs that are draped by...