1 Ritchie Exploration Inc., Wichita, tapped the Johnson Zone (Cherokee) for an oil discovery at its #1 Grusing Trust 1A in Section 1-17s-31w, about 13 miles northwest of Dighton in Scott County, Kan. Ritchie is holding test volumes and the interval tight on the well, but it produces from around 4,500 ft. Total depth is 4,615 ft. The well is about 1.75 miles west of a Ritchie discovery made last summer in western Lane County, according to IHS Energy. That well, the #1 M. Wilkens, opened Brand Southwest Field. It produced 4,187 bbl. of oil from Lansing-Kansas City between June and September last year. The closest Cherokee production is 3.25 miles southwest at Manning Township Field, discovered in 1985. Two wells in the field have produced 97,000 bbl. of oil from Cherokee at about 4,530 ft. and Marmaton at 4,300 ft. 2 Molz Oil Co. Inc., Kiowa, Kan., tested 4 million cu. ft. of gas a day with no gas or water at its #1 Mary exploratory test, drilled nearly three miles southeast of Sharon, Kan. The well, in Section 34-32s-10w in eastern Barber County, was tested from Mississippian perforations between 4,406-16 ft. after acidizing. Little Sandy Creek Field is more than a mile northeast. It has produced 4.2 billion cu. ft. of gas and 149,000 bbl. of oil from 26 Mississippian wells since it was discovered 30 years ago. 3 Freedom Energy Inc., Fort Smith, received a permit to drill a 7,200-ft. wildcat in the Pennsylvanian Hartford sand about 3.5 miles northeast of Mansfield in Sebastian County, Ark. The #1 Blackjack Ridge is in Section 22-5n-30w, about a mile north-northwest of a 1981 Hartford producer completed on the northern edge of Mansfield Field. That well, in Section 27 of the same township, showed an initial potential of 1.6 million cu. ft. of gas a day from fractures between 5,862 and 5,981 ft. and from 6,200-88 ft. The well has produced 1.1 billion cu. ft. of gas, IHS Energy reports. 4 Arkansas' Booneville Field gave operator The Houston Exploration Co. a 13.6-million-cu.-ft.-per-day development well from two zones. The #2-23 Eric Danielson produced 2.1 million cu. ft. of gas a day from fractures in the Upper Borum "B" in three intervals between 4,792 ft. and 2,874 ft., says IHS Energy. The well, in Section 23-6n-28w, Logan County, also produced 11.5 million cu. ft. of gas per day from four stimulated perforation intervals in Upper Borum "C" from 5,520-59 ft. The Houston firm tested both zones through a 32/64-in. choke. 5 ConocoPhillips Co. completed a greater Guymon-Hugoton Gas Area stepout in southern Texas County, in the Oklahoma Panhandle, for 363 bbl. of oil, 410,000 cu. ft. of gas and 63 bbl. of water a day. The #4 Christine is in Section 35-2n-15ecm, about 6.5 miles southeast of Guymon. The company tested the well after fracturing the Oswego formation from 5,794 ft. to 5,806 ft. through a 64/64-in. choke with 604 psi of flowing tubing pressure, but it also production tested the deeper Mississippian and Lower Morrow. The well is a quarter-mile east of a well that tested at 251 bbl. of oil, 631,000 cu. ft. of gas and 81 bbl. of water from Oswego. 6 Sanguine Ltd., Tulsa, hit a high-volume development well in Mayfield Northeast Field in the western Anadarko Basin. The #2-20 Brothers is in Section 20-11n-25w, about 13 miles north of Erick in northwestern Beckham County, Okla. The well produced 10.2 million cu. ft. of gas a day from Atoka Carbonate Wash from 15,194 ft. to 15,400 ft. A shallower Atoka interval tested at 6.62 million cu. ft. of gas through a 16/64-in. choke. Sanguine fractured both zones. A half-mile east, Sanguine's #1-20 Lavonne was completed last August for a combined initial production rate of 21.7 million cu. ft. of gas a day. 7 Also in Beckham County, Okla., Chesapeake Operating Inc. tested 3.5 million cu. ft. of gas a day with 273 bbl. of water at its #1-17 Buffalo Creek discovery in Section 17-10n-25w, about eight miles north of Erick. The Oklahoma City-based operator produced the gas from four fractured Springer sections between 19,632 ft. and 19,770 ft. in the 21,090-ft. discovery well. Nearby production is from shallower Upper Morrow and Granite Wash. 8 Salt Lake City-based Questar Exploration & Production Co. brought in an 8,900-ft. discovery producing 151 bbl. of oil and 65,000 cu. ft. of gas per day from several intervals between 6,848 ft. and 8,280 ft. in Hoxbar. The #1-27 Sarah is in Section 27-2n-6w, northern Stephens County, Okla. The closest Hoxbar production is in a Quester well in Bray Southwest Field 1.5 miles northwest. There, the 5-21 Caroline tested at 564 bbl. of oil and 1.8 million cu. ft. of gas a day. 9 CDX Gas LLC has permitted four Lower Hartshorne coalbed-methane zones with plans for multiple-lateral wells. The wells all are in eastern LeFlore County, Okla., about seven miles east of Poteau, and all will be drilled from surface locations in Section 9-6n-27e. The Dallas-based operator plans to drill the #1-9-9 CBM with 10 laterals with offsets from 2,182 to 3,149 ft., from a true vertical depth of 778 ft. Bottomhole locations are in Sections 9 and 10, close to the Arkansas border. It plans 11 horizontal legs at the #1-9-4 CBM and the #1-9-12 CBM and another 10-lateral well with its #1-9-1 CBM. The wells are a mile to two miles from Chambers Field, a Hartshorne coalbed-methane field in Sebastian County, Ark., discovered by CDX. That field has produced 807 million cu. ft. of gas since it came on line in December 2001. 10 CKG Energy Inc., Austin, is rapidly forming a commercial field with its remote wildcat gas discovery in New Mexico's Quay County, about 20 miles west-southwest of Tucumcari. Three wells discovered to date have flowed gas at rates between 3- and 6 million cu. ft. a day in production tests. The wells produce from Pennsylvanian zones ranging from Canyon to Strawn. They include the #1 Anna Katheryn and the #1 John David, both in Section 19-10n-27e, and the #2 Anna Katheryn in Section 30 of the same township. The wildcats reached bottom at depths between 7,000 and 7,500 ft. CKG, the operator, and consultant and permitting agent Prairie Sun Inc. of Roswell, N.M., have leased 30,000 acres of land in the area and have obtained approval for a 27-mile, 12-in. pipeline to a larger line that provides gas to Tucumcari. The companies have completed the #2 John David, also in Section 19, and will begin drilling the #5 Tucumcari well in the same area soon. The nearest production is 80 miles south in the northwestern edge of the Permian Basin. 11 Yates Petroleum Corp., Artesia, N.M., opened Alkali Draw Field with its 137,000-cu.-ft.-per-day #1 Grynberg "LZ" State workover in Section 36-5s-24e in the Pecos Slope Field area of northern Chaves County, N.M. According to IHS Energy, Yates completed the well as a Pennsylvanian discovery from acidized perforations between 4,878 and 5,002 ft. Yates originally completed the well from the Abo zone in 1980. It produced 1.33 billion cu. ft. of gas, 590 bbl. of condensate and 77 bbl. of water through mid-2002. Although there is no Pennsylvanian production nearby, the well is surrounded by Pecos Slope Field producers. 12 Midland independent David H. Arrington recompleted a Morrow producer in Eidson North Field, Section 18-15s-35e, Lea County, N.M., as an Atoka discovery testing at a rate of 1.8 million cu. ft. of gas, 77 bbl. of condensate and one bbl. of water a day through a 12/64-in. choke. The #1 Bill's Hopper is about six miles northwest of Lovington, N.M. As a 13,215-ft. Morrow well completed in 2001, it tested at a rate of 1.5 million cu. ft. of gas, 38 bbl. of condensate and one bbl. of water a day and produced 84.3 million cu. ft. of gas and 1,251 bbl. of condensate through last September. 13 LeClair Operating Co., Abilene, has reached total depth of 5,300 ft. at its #1 Cranford-Hagins exploratory well in the area of Steele Hill Field in southern Dickens County, Texas. The well, in Section 163, Block 1, H&GN Survey, A-83, is 0.75-mile north of Steele Hill Field. In that field, the #1 Beadle "D" well, drilled to 4,600 ft,. has produced 114,510 bbl. of oil and 27,263 bbl. of water from Tannehill since its discovery in 1996. 14 Roff Operating Co. LLC, Houston, has made a Devonian discovery in a workover in northern Martin County in the Texas Panhandle. The #1 Elma Slaughter, about 10 miles north of Lenorah, was tested pumping 20 bbl. of oil and 35,000 cu. ft. of gas a day through acidized perforations from 11,832-44 ft. The 11,990-ft. well is in Section 12, Block 36, T3N, T&P Survey, A-848. The well originally was completed in 1968 and pumped 11,17 bbl. of oil and 5.8 million cu. ft. of casinghead gas from Spraberry and another 307,248 bbl. of oil and 517.1 million cu. ft. of gas from Dean. 15 A 3,500-ft. wildcat has been staked 12 miles north of Menard in Menard County, Texas, by Abilene independent LeClair Operating Co. The #1 Jones is in Section 98, J.H. Gibson Survey, A-1709, about a quarter-mile south of an abandoned 1972 test to Pennsylvanian at 1,950 ft. The nearest production is from Wilhelm Lane Field, 1.25 miles north-northeast.