- contains the Queen Charlotte Islands, the offshore areas of Hecate Straight, Queen Charlotte Sound and the Dixon Entrance

- approximately 500 km long and 150-200 km wide, generally less than 200m deep

- thought to be the most promising untapped resource on Canada's west coast according to estimates done by the Geological Survey of Canada in 1998

- comparable in size to Alaska's Cook Inlet basin and possibly three times larger than Hibernia on the east coast

- 18 wells drilled, (onshore and offshore) with showings of hydrocarbons in some wells, especially Sockeye B-10

- known natural seepages of hydocarbons both on- and offshore

- only limited drilling has been done so far

- rough estimates by the Geological Survey of Canada are for as much as 6.5 trillion cubic feet of gas, although one third of this lies within Washington State

- on-shore gas has been spotted on the Olympic Peninsula
- there are no real estimates so far due to a lack of exploration data

- relatively large water body (55 km - 120 km wide) and thus is susceptible to severe conditions
- winds blow north-south along the long axis of the basin
- wind speeds of up to 200 km/hour have been recorded (Cape St. James)

- approximately the same water depths (less than 200 m) as offshore drilling on the east coast