Did you know that you can download and view previously released MDR's? Click Here to Download the MDR in Microsoft Excel Format

 

We're Hiring!

The Oil, Gas and Salt Resources Library is the not-for-profit manager of Ontario's public drilling and production data from all borings licenced under the Oil, Gas and Salt Resources Act.

We are seeking talented students studying GIS, geology, or computer science to join our team and help advance our data and knowledge of Ontario's subsurface.

Visit the OGSR Library News Page for more information.

Providing safe drinking water to all Ontarians is increasingly the focus of new regulation and initiatives. Models and studies require high-quality data sources or expensive data collection efforts. Data archived at the Oil, Gas and Salt Resources Library (OGSR Library) represents one possible source of data in groundwater modelling. The OGSR Library dataset has geological and hydrological data for depths in the subsurface that are not intercepted by water and geotechnical borings. This data can be used to create models that extend our knowledge and protection of groundwater deeper into the subsurface.
 
The OGSR Library is a data archive and geoscience research centre focusing on the data associated with wells drilled under the Oil, Gas, and Salt Resources Act (OGSRA). This data includes files on 26,720 wells (40 Brine, 12,192 Gas Wells, 993 Private Gas Wells, 5,368 Oil Wells, 447 Storage Wells, 207 Solution Mining Wells, 412 Injection and Disposal Wells, 7,061 Other Types). Geophysical logs for 20,430 wells are available, drill cutting samples from 10,887 wells and core samples from 1,110 wells. Geological formation top picks have been recorded for 289,600 contacts, with ~33,861 of these contacts reviewed by QA/QC geologists at the OGSR Library. In addition to these data a huge effort has been undertaken to complete quality assessment and quality control (QA/QC) on the original data from drillers.
 
In addition to geological and geophysical information there are approximately 35,000 water contact records in the Library database. This data is collected through OGSRA well drilling where the reporting requires details about water interval depths, type, and static level. Detailed water analyses and chemistry are available on 1,023 of the water zones. There can be multiple water records for a single well depending on the number of water intervals encountered during drilling. This allows potential aquifers to be located and mapped for different water types. The use of this data has the capability of greatly improving our understanding of subsurface water at greater depths than other datasets. All detailed well record information can be accessed from the OGSR Library databases with a membership.
 
A regional 3D geological model of the Paleozoic bedrock of southern Ontario is in its third year of development. This project is a collaboration by the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC), Ontario Geological Survey (OGS), Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) and the OGSR Library. The next steps of this project will use the modelled formation layers generated from OGSR Library data to create a hydrostratigraphic model of Southern Ontario. This model represents one application of OGSRA well data to protecting groundwater, many others opportunities are possible.