Data for Geothermal Drillers

How to comply with Ontario Regulation 98/12

Welcome geothermal drillers! We're here to help you get back to drilling by demonstrating where to find geological data that you can use in your work plan required by Reg. 98/12.

According to the new Ontario Reg. 98/12 drillers of closed loop geothermal wells must write a work plan that:

(c) identifies measures to be taken to prevent or reduce the likelihood of the migration of hazardous gas, whether through the hole or otherwise, during construction, alteration, extension or replacement of the vertical closed loop ground source heat pump, including detailed requirements for,

and...

(4) In preparing the work plan, the licensed engineering practitioner or professional geoscientist shall consider,
(a) the Oil, Gas and Salt Resources Act;*

*This includes O. Reg. 245/97 and the Provincial Operating Standards. S. 1.3 (b) of the Provincial Standards requires a drilling program that includes:

a geological prognosis of formation tops and expected oil, gas, water and loss of circulation zones and pressures

Consult Ontario Regulation 98/12 from e-laws for current information.

Writing a geologic prognosis

A geological prognosis identifies the likely depths of geological formations and their associated hazards, such as oil, gas and water-bearing intervals, loss of circulation zones, incompetent or soluble bedrock, artesian flow, and subsurface pressures. An accurate geological prognosis forms the basis for design of a drilling program that will mitigate any geological risks, and avoid any surprises that may negatively impact the drilling operation, the environment, worker and public safety, and ultimately cost you money.

Prognoses are created by using data from wells that have been drilled previously. Records of over 26,000 petroleum well drillings are available online and contain information about possible water zones and possible subsurface hazards, such as natural gas.

Video introduction to prognoses and petroleum well data

Please enjoy this short video we have prepared for you that demonstrated how to use existing petroleum well data to write a prognosis in order to satisfy the requirements of your work plan. All the tools used in this video are available online

Becoming a member of the OGSR Library

The Ontario Oil, Gas & Salt Resources Library is Ontario's petroleum data warehouse. As a not for profit corporation we rely on memberships from companies in geological industries to maintain our facility and data.

Our database contains over 26,000 well locations dating back over 150 years. It will allow anyone working in the subsurface Palaeozoic rocks of Ontario to identify geological formations, water zones, and potentials zones of natural gas and oil that could be hazardous to some drilling operations.

Why not try our data for free using the offer code GEOTHERMAL on our trial membership page.

Membership is only $600 per year for individual access or $1,750 per year to allow everyone at your company to access our data. Sign up by downloading the OGSR Library Membership Form from our services page.

If you have any questions about finding data or how the data can help your company get back to drilling contact Richard or Jordan by calling 519-686-2772 or by email via our contact page.

Thank you and happy drilling!