There's likely sufficient natural gas in the Whitehorse Trough to generate enough electricity to supply Whitehorse for 100 years – maybe even 1,000, says a local petroleum geologist.

Tiffani Fraser of the Yukon Geological Survey told delegates attending this week's annual Geoscience Forum the numbers are preliminary.

Since there's been no drilling in the trough, it's not possible to establish any certainty about what lies beneath the surface, she pointed out Monday afternoon.

Fraser said from the available science, however, there's at least enough probability of sufficient oil and gas in the Whitehorse Trough to justify further exploration and assessment.

Under the worst-case scenario, she explained, there are likely 379 billion cubic feet of natural gas and 17 million barrels of oil.

She said estimates range to as high as 2,920 billion cubic feet of natural gas – enough energy to supply Whitehorse for 1,000 years – and 107 million barrels of oil.

The Whitehorse Trough is made up of nine distinct fields, or plays, Fraser told the audience.

Of the nine, she added, five are categorized as reasonably certain and four are speculative.

Of the five plays that are reasonably certain, all are described as conventional, requiring conventional methods for production.

One of the four plays categorized as speculative is described as conventional, while the other three are noted as unconventional with the presence of shale formations and coalbed methane gas, she explained.

Fraser pointed out the largest of the conventional plays, the Tanglefoot play, lies in the northern part of the trough, which runs from the B.C. border up through Carcross, down the Whitehorse-Carcross valley and north to just past Carmacks.

The Tanglefoot, she pointed out, holds about half of the potential for both oil and gas.

"...Evidence for presence of both conventional and unconventional hydrocarbons in the Whitehorse Trough is compelling, and assessed volumes are sufficiently substantial to support additional exploration and assessment work,” Fraser concluded.

In an interview after her presentation, Fraser pointed out that without any drilling, it's not possible to nail down the potential for production.

And it's not likely drilling is an exercise government can undertake to advance the science because of the significant cost, she said, suggesting one hole could run $14 million.

Fraser said there has been some casual talk among various governments regarding joint funding a small-bore drill hole in the trough just to get a look at the subsurface profile, though nothing has been advanced.

Governments outside the Yukon might go for it, just to get a look at what makes up the Whitehorse Trough, as a means of achieving a greater understanding of the northwest as a whole, she explained.

Hector Campbell of Yukon Energy told the audience during his presentation Monday the publicly owned utility is very much interested in switching from diesel to natural gas to power its generators at the Whitehorse Rapids Dam.

It's cheaper, and cleaner environmentally, he said of what the publicly owned utility understands at this point in its research into the proposal.

Campbell said there is a chance the first generator powered by liquified natural gas could be in service by the end of 2014, and Yukon Energy is currently looking into supply and transportation.

If Yukon Energy had a pipeline of natural gas it could tap into right here at home, the cost of electricity would even be more cheaper than burning diesel, he acknowledged in answering a question from the floor Monday.

The oil and gas industry expressed an interest earlier this year in exploring in the Whitehorse Trough, after the territorial government invited the industry to identify areas of interest in the Yukon.

But the government shut the door suddenly on the possibility of exploration amid a groundswell of opposition to oil and gas activity around Whitehorse.

Energy, Mines and Resources Minister Brad Cathers announced last April there were be a moratorium on exploration in the Whitehorse Trough for the remainder of the government's term in office, which will end in October 2016.

See related forum coverage