EASTERN U.S.

1 Shell Offshore Inc., New Orleans, plans up to four offshore wildcats in DeSoto Canyon blocks 486 and 487 in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. The company plans to drill two wells each from one location on each block in water depths ranging from 7,798 to 7,843 ft. In the summer of 2004, Shell filed plans to drill one wildcat on DeSoto Canyon 485 and three more wells on Block 529, immediately south. The nearest activity to the Block 486 site is about eight miles east-northeast at the Raptor West prospect on Block 445. That well is being drilled in 7,968 ft. of water by Dominion Exploration & Production Inc., Houston. The Shell site is about nine miles north of Dominion's San Jacinto discovery. 2 Gibraltar Energy Co., El Dorado, Ark., will re-enter a Black Warrior Basin exploratory test about 0.75-mile east of the Oktibbeha County boundary line in Clay County, Miss. The company's #1 E. Seitz Unit "34-2" is projected to Mississippian Carter at 9,050 ft. The wildcat, in Section 34-17s-6e, was drilled and abandoned in 1984 at a total depth of 9,821 ft. The nearest production to the test is about 3.75 miles northwest in the single-well Walker Lake Field. There, the #17-5 Simmons has produced a cumulative 775.46 million cu. ft. of gas, 219 bbl. of condensate and 10 bbl. of water from Mississippian perforations between 9,433-58 ft. That well produced 3.04 million cu. ft. of gas in July. 3 Fort Meyers, Fla., independent United Energy Conservation LLC is drilling a wildcat in southern Highlands County, Fla. Only three wells have been drilled in the county, and all three were abandoned by major operating companies. The company's #20-4 Paul Bob Inc., in Section 20-38s-30e, is scheduled to 12,800 ft. about four miles south-southeast of the city limits of Placid Lakes. The nearest production to the United Energy well is about 40 miles south-southwest in Hendry County, where the four-well Townsend Canal Field produced 548,297 bbl. of oil, 18,000 cu. ft. of gas and 2 million bbl. of water from Sunniland Lime between 1982 and 1997, according to IHS Energy. 4 West Bay Exploration Co., Traverse City, Mich., plans a 2,000-ft. well about nine miles southeast of Wayland in Barry County in southwestern Michigan. The company's #1-3 Carter Family LLC, in Section 3-2n-10w, Orangeville Township, is scheduled to test the Devonian Traverse Lime. Although a dry hole was drilled less than a mile southwest, the nearest production is in Hope Field, about seven miles northwest. That field produces from Traverse at 1,900 ft. and has given up more than 800,000 bbl. of oil since it was discovered in the late 1930s. 5 An Oakland County, Mich., wildcat projected to 3,800 ft. will look at Michigan's southern reef trend. The test was staked about two miles east of South Lyon by Wellmaster Production Co. LLC, Rothbury, Mich. Wellmaster's #1-22 Wood Wind Investments will be drilled from a surface location in Section 22-1n-7e, Lyon Township, south-southwest approximately 339 ft. to a bottomhole location in the same section with Brown Niagaran as the objective. The discovery well for Lyon 15-1n-7e Field is a half-mile north-northwest. There, the #4-15 Zapf produced 160,962 bbl. of oil from 1985 through April 2004 and produced 219 bbl. of oil during April, IHS Energy reported. 6 Sugar Creek Oil Co., Portland, Texas, will drill the #1 Dowson wildcat in Section 24-13n-6w in Sangamon County, Ill. The well will target Niagaran Lime at 1,800 ft. at a location nearly 3.5 miles southeast of Auburn. The nearest production comes from Divernon Field, which produces from Silurian more than four miles southwest. 7 Barger Engineering Inc., Evansville, Ind., has staked locations for two wildcats in Sullivan County, Ind. Both wells are in Township 7n-9w, and both are scheduled to shallow Pennsylvanian at 700 ft. The #1 A. Willis, in Section 17, is 4.5 miles southwest of the town of Sullivan and less than two miles southeast of Sullivan Consolidated Field. Barger's #1 R. Creed wildcat in Section 20 is five miles south of Sullivan and a little more than a mile north of Paxton West Field, a Devonian producer, IHS Energy said. 8 As part of a continuing play in Harrison County in southern Indiana, Quicksilver Resources Inc., Fort Worth, Texas, plans to drill the #A3-34 Engleman wildcat to 1,100 ft. in the New Albany Shale. The well, which will be in Section 34-3s-3e, nearly four miles west of Corydon, Ind., and two miles south of Corydon North Field. That field also produces from New Albany Shale. 9 Columbia Natural Resources Inc., Charleston, W.Va., staked a wildcat to the Black River formation in Section F, Mecklenburg Quad, Enfield Township, in Tomkins County, N.Y. The company's #1-D Stevenson is more than 5.5 miles southeast of an unnamed Black River field and about the same distance northwest of Newfield Hamlet, according to IHS Energy. 10 The Fortuna Energy Inc. subsidiary of Talisman Energy Inc., Calgary, continued its string of spectacular successes in New York's Trenton-Black River play as its #1 HX Soderblom tested at more than 19 million cu. ft. of gas a day, limited by surface equipment. The discovery is in Big Flats Township, Big Flats Quad, in western Chemung County. The company started with a vertical well and sidetracked horizontally to a measured depth of 12,050 ft. to reach a newly identified graben in the Black River. Flowing pressure of 2,300 psi corroborated the company's evaluation that it was a new pool. Those initial flow results show the newest well in the series could be as good as the company's #1 Reed in southeastern Steuben County, N.Y. That well came onstream at a rate of 34 million cu. ft. of gas a day and has produced 5.3 billion cu. ft. of gas to date. That well tested at 20 million cu. ft. of gas a day. According to IHS Energy, Fortuna has staked the #1 Vavrasek a mile north-northeast of the Soderblom well. Fortuna currently produces 110 million cu. ft. of gas a day from the Trenton-Black River and will spend another $100 million this year on 17 horizontal and five vertical wells in the area. 11 Ultra Resources Inc., Englewood, Colo., plans a deep vertical test to Devonian at 14,000 ft. in Tioga County, Pa. The company's #1 Marshlands Unit is in Section E, Marshlands Quad, Gaines Township, almost 4.5 miles southeast of Gaines Field, which produces from Upper Devonian and 6.5 miles southeast of the town of Galeton, Pa., according to IHS Energy. 12 The Weidlein S&M-#1 will reach for Devonian at 5,000 ft. in Section F, Greensburg Quad, Hempfield Township, in Westmoreland County, Pa. Operator Mid East Oil Co., Indiana, Pa., permitted the well more than a mile south of New Alexandria Field-an Upper Devonian producer-and almost two miles northeast of Greensburg, Pa. 13 T&F Exploration LP, Buckhannon, W.Va., has permitted the #1 Haller wildcat in Black Fork District, Parsons Quad, in Tucker County, W.Va. The well will evaluate Oriskany at 4,700 ft. and is more than a mile south of an unnamed Huntersville field and 1.5 miles west of the town of Parsons, IHS Energy reported. 14 Columbia National Resources has permitted a new-field wildcat to look at Devonian zones to 6,600 ft. at its #825272 Ark Land Co. in Section 20-G-81e, Whitesburg Quad, in Letcher County, Ky. The well is more than a mile southwest of Roaring Field and 7.5 miles southeast of the town of Whitesburg. 15 Gaddis Gas Co., Gray, Ky., staked a couple of wildcats to Clinton Shale at 2,499 ft. in Section 24-F-67e, Heidrick Quad, Knox County, Ky. Both wells are a little more than a mile south of Gray Field. The #1 Bill Ferrell is 7.8 miles northwest of the town of Barbourville, while the #2 Margaret Ann Goen is another 0.1-mile northwest of the town, according to IHS Energy. 16 Lexington, Ky.-based Basin Oil & Gas Inc. plans to drill two wildcats to the Knox formation at 2,000 ft. in Section 14-1s-53e, Alpine Quad, Pickett County, Tenn. The #1 Jerry Sales will be more than a mile west of Spurrier Field, which produces from Knox and nearly eight miles south of Byrdstown. The #2 Jerry Sells is about the same distance from Spurrier Field but more than eight miles south of Byrdstown. 17 In Scott County, Tenn., Knox Energy LLC, Bluefield, Va., has permitted three new wells, all targeting Sequatchie at 4,300 ft. in Section 18-4s-61e in Fork Mountain Quad. The BR-#1020 Fountain Forestry is less than two miles west of an unnamed Monteagle field and nearly 11 miles northeast of the city of Wartburg, while the BR-#1021 Fountain Forestry is 1.5 miles west of the unnamed field and more than 11 miles northeast of Wartburg. The company's BR-#1022 is nearby.