GULF COAST

1 PetroQuest Energy LLC, Lafayette, La., plans a pair of wildcats below 11,000 ft. in a continuing campaign in western Cherokee County, Texas (RRC 6). The #1 Shattuck-Doherty in James M. Doherty Survey, A-224, is scheduled to 11,900 ft. Only two wells have been drilled previously in the survey. The other wildcat, #1 New Birmingham-Hammet, is nearly a mile south-southeast in William Hammett Survey, A-377. It is projected to 14,500 ft. A half-mile southwest, #1 E.S. Bolton is the nearest producer in Jackson Field. That 1964 well tested at 4.16 million cu. ft. of gas a day from Rodessa perforations between 8,598 and 8,608 ft. There is no deeper production in the area.

2 Fossil Resources Inc., Dallas, Texas, will drill its #1 Tigers Gas Unit to 12,500 ft. in Jose Flores Survey, A-30, in Nacogdoches County, eastern Texas (RRC 6). The well, about three miles southwest of Martinsville, is a half-mile northwest of the company's #2 Cardinals Gas Unit in the same survey. The company set 9 5/8-in. casing to 2,700 ft. in that 12,500-ft. well. The nearest production is in Martinsville Field less than two miles southeast. There, #5 Manuel Herrera flowed 81.5 million cu. ft. of gas and 843 bbl. of condensate in its first two months online from Travis Peak perforations between 9,117 and 10,760 ft.

3 A high-volume well rewarded drilling efforts of EnCana Oil & Gas USA Inc., Calgary, as its #1 Lewis Simpson tested for 29.27 million cu. ft. of gas and 109 bbl. of water a day from Bossier perforations between 16,069-81 ft. in eastern Robertson County, Texas (RRC 6). The well, in Pedro Jose Pereire Survey, A-32, about seven miles east of Franklin, was tested on a 28/64-in. choke with 9,615 psi of flowing casing pressure. Last October, EnCana completed a Bossier well 1.5 miles northeast. The #1 Meadors tested for 17.38 million cu. ft. of gas and 73 bbl. of water a day on a 22/64-in. choke with 6,740 psi of flowing casing pressure.

4 Madison County, Texas, (RRC 3) will host an ultradeep wildcat by Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake Operating Inc. The company will drill its #1 Theiss to 24,000 ft. in the Frederick Sharack Survey, A-209, about 15 miles west of Madisonville, Texas. The well could be completed in shallower Georgetown, Sub-Clarksville or Woodbine. The #1 Hollis A in Kurten Field, a mile southeast, tested for 311,000 cu. ft. of gas a day from Sub-Clarksville perforations between 7,984 and 8,124 ft. The closest production below 16,000 ft. is more than 10 miles northeast in Hilltop Resort Field in Leon County. There, #1 Gastar Fridkin Kaufman Ltd. tested for 11.42 million cu. ft. of gas a day from Bossier perforations between 16,370 and 16,762 ft. Only 37 wells have produced from depths below 20,000 ft. in all of Texas, and most of those are in Ward, Winkler, Reeves and Pecos counties in West Texas.

5 The #1 Carlsberg will evaluate Wilcox to 9,000 ft. in central Lavaca County, Texas, (RRC 2) for LGDC Corp., Shreveport, La. The company will drill the test in Andrew Kent Survey, A-23. The new well is 1.25 miles southwest of an LGDC Tiger Bend Field well drilled to Wilcox last year for 2.52 million cu. ft. of gas and 30 bbl. of condensate a day from Wilcox between 8,614-24 ft.

6 Sabinal Resources Inc., Humble, Texas, took out a drilling permit for #1 Pritchett, a 4,700-ft. wildcat in Section 114, Narciso Aguirre Survey, A-3, in south-central Zavala County, Texas (RRC 1). In the same survey, #113-1 Cross South Ranch in Cross South Ranch Field tested for 10 bbl. of oil a day from San Miguel from 4,088-96 ft. after drilling to 4,692 ft. That well produced a total 706 bbl. of oil and 7,000 cu. ft. of gas in 13 months.

7 Newfield Exploration Co., Houston, scheduled a wildcat to 19,500 ft. just southeast of the Zapata County boundary line in Starr County, Texas (RRC 4). The #1 R.R. Guerra is in Section 55, Juan Leal Survey, A-335. The nearest production is in Texanita Field, 1.25 miles west-southwest where Queen City produces from zones shallower than 3,500 ft. The closest production below 15,000 ft. is in Bob West South Field some eight miles southwest. There, #1 Hinojosa Estate Corp. tested for 1.1 million cu. ft. of gas a day from Wilcox in 1984.

8 A discovery resulted from a well drilled by Energy Partners Ltd., New Orleans, from its A platform on Vermilion 101. The #A-6 OCS G27061, in 68 ft. of water, reached 10,180 ft., or 9,817 ft. true vertical depth, and was completed as a gas well. Between 1970 and 1997, the block produced 31.54 billion cu. ft. of gas, 171,638 bbl. of condensate and 34,691 bbl. of water as part of Vermilion Block 102 Field.

9 Remington Oil and Gas Corp., Dallas, completed a wildcat with its #A-3 OCS G26002 well on South Marsh Island 80, offshore Louisiana. It drilled the well from the A platform in the northeastern corner of Block 93 south. It drilled to 12,517 ft., or a true vertical depth of 12,053 ft., and produced from Pliocene perforations between 12,300-30 ft. The company completed #A-2 well from the same surface location at a total depth of 13,100 ft. and later drilled a sidetrack. Previous production from Block 80 came from five wells in Pleistocene and Pliocene under three separate leases. The block produced a cumulative 12.36 billion cu. ft. of casinghead gas, 67,778 bbl. of condensate and 363,634 bbl. of water as part of Block 79 Field between 1996 and November 2002.

10 A deepwater discovery registered when Noble Energy Inc., Houston, drilled its #5 OCS G08806 well on its Raton South prospect in Mississippi Canyon 292. Noble drilled the well to 20,913 ft. from a semisubmersible rig in 3,400 ft. of water and found hydrocarbons in two intervals. The object of the well was to appraise deep potential below the Raton gas discovery to the north in Mississippi Canyon 248. At that discovery, Noble logged 90 ft. of pay in three zones and suspended drilling at 20,106 ft. Immediately north of the #5 well lies the three-well Gemini Field in Block 292. Noble also had an apparent discovery at its Redrock prospect on Block 204, north of Gemini, but it hasn't finished evaluating that discovery .

11 Prime Offshore LLC, Houston, brought in a discovery with its #1 OCS G26431 wildcat offshore South Texas in South Padre Island 1133. The company tested the well flowing gas from an unreported zone after drilling in 127 ft. of water. The company is drilling #3 well from the same location to an unreported depth, and it has permitted #2 and #4 wells for follow-up work.

12 E&P Co. LLC, Houston, will drill a pair of wildcats in eastern Caldwell Parish in northern Louisiana: #1 IP Co. to 4,100 ft. in Section 27-14n-5e just south of the Richland Parish boundary line; and #2 IP Co. two miles southeast in Section 2-13n-5e and to 3,300 ft. The nearest production to the new wells is six miles west-southwest in Davis Lake Field. The #1 RDF Farms Inc. well in that field has recovered a total 48.5 million cu. ft. of gas and 1,854 bbl. of water from Wilcox perforations between 2,124-29 ft. More than a mile north of E&P's wells, CHC Energy LLC, Baltimore, has drilled 11 dry holes in a southern Richland Parish campaign.

13 Winn Parish in northern Louisiana will get a new wildcat near Black Lake Field as Hunt Petroleum Corp., Dallas, drills its #13 IPB LWN in Section 11-10n-5w. The well is about three miles east of the Natchitoches Parish boundary. The #1 through #12 IPB LWN wells are spread through townships 9n-3w, 9n-5w, 10n-2w, 10n-4w, 10n-5w, 11n-4w and 11n-5w. Drilling started on that campaign in 1979. All but two of the wells were drilled and abandoned; the other two were abandoned with no activity. The closest recovery is in Black Lake Field, six miles northwest in Natchitoches Parish. That field produces mostly oil from Pettet and Sligo below 5,000 ft.

14 Phillips Energy Inc., Shreveport, La., claimed a discovery with a remote wildcat in northwestern St. Martin Parish in southern Louisiana. The #1 Vivian O. Thomas in irregular Section 52-8s-6e flowed at an initial rate of 312 bbl. of oil and 30,000 cu. ft. of gas a day through an 8/64-in. choke with flowing tubing pressure of 1,250 psi. It completed the 11,750-ft. well through Nonion struma perforations between 11,267-72 ft. The closest production is three miles northwest in Cecelia North Field, a Frio pool with production below 9,800 ft.

15 A 16,000-ft. wildcat will test Hosston for Ventex Operating Corp., Dallas, when it drills a half-mile south-southwest of Monticello in central Lawrence County, Miss. The #1 McPherson et al. 32-15 is in Section 32-7n-11e. The proposed well is 1.5 miles southwest of Monticello Field. The #1 Edward Hedgepath well in that field recovered 8.7 million cu. ft. of gas and 661 bbl. of water from 1983 to 1985.

16 Natchez, Miss.-based Griffin & Griffin Exploration LLC will drill a wildcat to Wilcox at 8,700 ft. in western Amite County in southern Mississippi. The #1 Dixon, in Section 9-2n-3e, is a mile north-northwest of the single producing well in Berry Creek Field. That well, Griffin & Griffin's #1 H.W. Bailey, produced 24.62 million cu. ft. of gas from Frio perforations between 3,379-81 ft. between 1994 and 1996. The closest of only three Wilcox wells in Amite County is 4.5 miles southwest of the new well. That well, #1 Hensleigh, tested for 122 bbl. of oil a day when it was completed in 1988. The Thanksgiving Field well has produced a cumulative 153,838 bbl. of oil, 52.27 million cu. ft. of gas and 1.28 million bbl. of water.