In regard to the actual existence of petroleum, the results of the government borings have not up to the present stage been satisfactory.
The boring near the mouth of Pelican river penetrated the lower sandy beds of the Cretaceous for some distance and demonstrated the existence in these beds of a thick tarry petroleum or maltha, besides that of great reservoirs of natural gas. It proved impossible to carry out this boring to the very base of the Cretaceous and into the underlying formation, in which the existence of a more fluid and merchantable oil was still to be hoped for.
Doctor Dawson, reporting upon the result of these operations, stated:—“The bore furnishes additional evidence of the existence in the Northwest territories of a vast gas-field. The seemingly uniform continuity of the Cretaceous beds, makes it almost certain that gas-wells may be obtained by boring, over a great area. Unfortunately the Pelican boring, like the boring at Athabaska, did not penetrate deep enough to furnish reliable information as to the existence or non-existence of petroleum of a high quality. The presence of low-quality petroleum—maltha—is demonstrated, but as the more liquid oil may very probably underlie this, and as we did not reach a sufficient depth to determine the point, the result is unsatisfactory.”
The following extracts from the report of the engineer in charge of the boring operations at Pelican river, Mr. A. W. Fraser, are interesting, and show how and why the operations came to an abrupt termination:—“I used some of the heavy petroleum or maltha which flowed from the well in raising steam, and it made an extremely good fuel.
“If the hard slate stratum at eight hundred and twenty-one feet six inches had been pierced, a great flow of petroleum might have, in my opinion, been encountered. Indeed it is altogether possible that at that depth we were within a few feet of a large body of petroleum. Had it been struck while the flow of gas was in an unconquered condition, the result would have been disastrous, as there might have been no possible means of checking the flow. The flow of gas was so great that a cannon ball could not have been dropped down the pipe.
“At seven hundred and seventy three feet a heavier flow of gas was struck. It made a roaring noise coming out of the bore, and had quite a pronounced petroleum odour. Increased quantities of petroleum in the cuttings at these depths were encountered.