1. Key Production Co. Inc., Denver, Colo., completed its 1-8 Lady Raiders test in an unnamed field 3 miles (5 km) north of Colusa, Calif., for 1.6 MMcf/d of gas through a 12/64-in. choke with 1,950 psi of flowing tubing pressure. The company perforated the well in Section 8-16n-1w in Colusa County, from four Forbes zones between 4,319 ft and 4,383 ft (1,317 m and 1,337 m) after drilling the well to 4,750 ft (1,449 m) and setting casing to 4,734 ft (1,444 m).

2. Trail Mountain Inc., an affiliate of Yates Petroleum Corp. of Artesia, New Mexico, has moved in a rig to drill the 8,500-ft (2,593-m) 1 Lucky Seven wildcat in Section 13-27n-51e in eastern Eureka County, Nev., about 2 miles (3.2 km) southwest of Blackburn field, according to IHS Energy. Blackburn field has produced 5 million bbl of oil and 16.5 million bbl of water from the Indian Well, Chainman and Nevada formations since Amoco Production Co. opened the field in 1982.

3. EnCana Energy Resources Inc., Calgary, Alberta, Canada, completed a wildcat in northern Montana for 1.2 MMcf/d of gas from the Jurassic Sawtooth. The 9-25 Gutcher is about 18 miles (29 km) northeast of Chester, Mont. in Section 25-34n-7e in Liberty County. EnCana shut in the well after drilling to 3,415 ft (1,042 m), setting casing to 3,408 ft (1,039 m) and perforating Sawtooth between 3,222 ft and 3,228 ft (983 m and 985 m). The nearest production is about 4 miles (6.4 km) northwest in O'Briens Coulee field, which produces gas from Cretaceous Bow Island above 2,100 ft (641 m). The nearest Sawtooth production is 9 miles (14 km) east in Rudyard field in Hill County. EnCana has drilled three other wells in township 34n-7e but has not released details.

4. A substantial new play may be in the works as unconfirmed reports indicate initial production rates between 1,600 b/d and 2,000 b/d from the 1-18 Evaline wildcat some 23 miles (37 km) northwest of Wolf Point in eastern Valley County, Mont., according to The Rocky Mountain Oil Journal. Continental Resources Inc., Enid, Okla., operator, completed the wildcat in Lodgepole at a measured depth of 7,110 ft (2,169 m) in Section 18-30n-45e even though the well was scheduled as a Mission Canyon (Madison) well proposed to 6,380 ft (1,946 m). Ladd Petroleum drilled a dry hole that penetrated Lodgepole a mile to the south, but the only Lodgepole production in Montana is about 150 miles (241 km) to the east on the Cedar Creek Anticline in Fallon County.

5. Amerada Hess Corp., New York City, N.Y., completed a horizontal Madison development well in Beaver Lodge Field in southeastern Williams County in North Dakota for 1,020 b/d of oil, 3.5 MMcf/d of gas and 1,840 b/d of water. The H-9H Beaver Lodge Madison Unit was drilled from a surface location in Section 1-155n-96w to a bottomhole location in Section 3. Beaver Lodge is North Dakota's oldest producing field with a cumulative 131.1 million bbl of oil, 177.5 Bcf of gas and 88.7 million bbl of water produced from Madison, Duperow, Silurian and Ordovician since 1951. The Nesson Anticline well was completed open hole in Madison from 8,245 ft to 12,215 ft (2,515 m to 3,726 m).

6. EOG Resources Inc., Houston, tested 3.6 MMcf/d of gas from its EOG 25 #1 Jack discovery about 7 miles (11.2 km) northeast of Eva in the Oklahoma Panhandle. The well in Section 25-5n-11ecm in Texas County produced from an untreated Cherokee zone between 4,897 ft and 4,906 ft (1,494 m and 1,496 m) with flowing tubing pressure of 1,010 psi through an open choke. The well is in the Guymon-Hugoton Gas Area and offsets a 19-year-old Geoex Resources well that flowed 2.3 MMcf/d of gas from Lansing-Kansas City.

7. Okland Oil Co., Oklahoma City, Okla., tested 236 b/d of 40° gravity oil at its 1-30 J.R. discovery in Section 30-8n-2w in McClain County, Okla., in the city limits of Goldsby. The well pumped oil after a light acid treatment in Arbuckle perforated in three intervals between 9,092 ft and 9,190 ft (2,773 m and 2,803 m). The discovery offsets the 1944 opener of Noble West field, which produces from six wells in the
Bromide, Upper McLish and Oil Creek formations.

8. Endeavor Energy Resources LP, Midland, Texas, plans four wildcat wells in Tarrant County, Texas (RRC5), all on undrilled surveys in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex. One well, the 6 Fork West, offsets the 7 Fork West in J.A. Hurst survey, A-702. The 5 Fork West is about a mile to the east in the Washington Bradshaw survey, A-136. Another mile and a half to the northeast is the 2 Bass "311" in William R. Loving survey, A-944. All of the tests will look for pay in the Barnett Shale at 9,500 ft (2,898 m). The two-well Mulliniks field is about 23/4 miles south of the Fork West 6 and 7 wells. The No 1 Cook in that field produced a cumulative 27.5 MMcf of gas and 4,297 bbl of water from the Barnett Shale at 7,400 ft to 7,630 ft (2,257 m to 2,327 m), while the No. 2 Cook produced 29.4 MMcf of gas and 4,113 bbl of water from 7,560 ft to 7,800 ft (2,611 m to 2,379 m).

9. Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc. completed a discovery flowing 10.5 MMcf/d of gas, 761 b/d of condensate and 18 b/d of water through an 18/64-in. choke with flowing casing pressure of 7,181 psi. The 1 Hankamer is in Malina Whittington survey, A-398, about 2 miles (3 km) northwest of Devers, in Liberty County, Texas (RRC 3). It produces from Cook Mountain between 11,687 ft and 11,771 ft (3,565 m and 3,590 m).

10. G&G Production LLC, Natchez, Miss., completed a discovery in southern Mississippi's Amite County flowing 204,000 cf/d of gas from Frio perforations between 3,482 ft and 3,489 ft (1,062 m to 1,064 m) through a 6/64-in. choke with flowing tubing pressure of 1,025 psi. The 1 Lambert is in previously undrilled Section 38-1n-3e. The Olio Southeast field is about a mile to the north. The only well in the field, the 1 CMR 1-33, has recovered 81.8 MMcf of gas and 5 bbl of water from Frio since May 2001. In September, the well produced 5.79 MMcf of gas.

11. Target Oil & Gas Inc., Danville, Kent., permitted four wildcats in Adair County in central Kentucky, all three in Section 8-I-53e, Dunnville 7.5 Quad. All four of the wells - the 89 Richard Sanders, 90 Richard Sanders, 91 Richard Sanders and 92 Richard Sanders - are scheduled to test Knox at 2,000 ft (610 m). The wells are more than 12 miles (19 km) north of Russell Springs, Kent., and 2 to 4 miles (3 to 6 km) north of Eunice field, which produces from Knox.

12. Charleston, West Virginia-based Eastern American Energy Corp. has staked a 12,000-ft. (3,660-m) Upper Cambrian Knox test about 9 miles (14 km) northeast of Clay in Clay County, W. Va. The 1 Butler is in Otter District, Ivydale Quad, in an area largely devoted to drilling for gas above 4,600 ft (1,403 m). One of the few deeper wells is the 1 Boggs, a 6,475-ft (1,975-m) discovery by Mert Development in 1981 completed for 600,000 cf/d of gas from Devonian, Huntersville and Oriskany.

13. Devon Energy Corp., Oklahoma City, Okla., plans to drill the Itiginkpak F-29 well on the Mackenzie Delta in northern Canada in cooperation with Shell Canada Ltd. Devon, with a 40% interest, will operate the well to test the Napartok structure about 17 miles (27 km) northwest of the town of Inuvik. If the first well is successful, Devon may follow up with a second well 2 miles (3.2 km) north of the first well. Shell Canada has an option to participate in that well. Devon and Petro-Canada drilled three Mackenzie Delta wells in 2002, and the Devon-operated Tuk M-18 tested at restricted flow rates up to 30 MMcf/d of gas from reserves estimated between 200 Bcf and 300 Bcf. It estimated sustained deliverability from the well at 60 MMcf/d to 80 MMcf/d. Devon and Petro-Canada also are preparing to drill the Nuna I-30 wildcat on the Mackenzie Delta some 56 miles (90 km) northeast of Inuvik on property operated by Petro-Canada.

14. Canadian Superior Energy Inc., Calgary, Alberta, Canada, received environmental approval to drill its Mariner prospect on license area EL 2409 offshore Sable Island about 175 miles (282 km) southeast of Halifax, Nova Scotia. It plans to drill the well in May using information from about 1,400 miles (2,200 km) of high-resolution seismic data. The company has scheduled the well to 19,685 ft (6,000 m) to evaluate a large structure offsetting the 1.6-Tcf Venture gas field. Canadian Superior also has started the application process for its Mayflower prospect in EL 2406, approximately 285 miles (459 km) due east of Boston, Mass. in Canadian waters. The company wants to drill that prospect to test deepwater turbidite structures late this year or early 2004.

15. ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc., Houston, Texas, received permits for two wells on Alaska's North Slope. The 1 Puviaq is at a remote location south of Smith Bay some 65 miles (105 km) southeast of Barrow, Alaska, in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. The Puviaq prospect will be drilled from a location in Section 35-16n-10w, Umiat Meridian, and ConocoPhillips could drill two wells and two sidetracks from the same pad. When the company drills the well, it will be the farthest west well on the North Slope, except for some development drilling at the Barrow gas field. The nearest production is 70 miles (113 km) away. The other permit is for the 1 Oberon wildcat in Section 9-10n-63w, Umiat Meridian, west of the Kuparuk River Unit some 10 miles (16 km) east of Nuiqsut, Alaska, and 8 miles (13 km) west-northwest of Tarn oil field.

16. EnCana Oil & Gas (USA) Inc., Calgary, Alberta, Canada, has plugged and abandoned its McCovey #1 exploration well in 36 ft (11 m) of federal water in the Beaufort Sea off the North Slope of Alaska and doesn't plan to follow up with additional exploration, the company said. The McCovey prospect and its potential represented a key point in Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski's election campaign. At one point, he predicted the field would produce up to 300,000 b/d of oil.

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