WESTERN U.S.

1 Geyser Petroleum Inc., South Lake, Texas, has staked a wildcat in an undrilled eastern Nevada township. The company's #1 Pipeline Canyon-Federal is in Section 28-15n-62e, White Pine County, about nine miles southwest of Ely on the western flank of Ward Mountain. The nearest production is from Railroad Valley some 40 miles southwest. The nearest previous drilling was a wildcat drilled almost six miles southwest. The #44-14 Pon-Federal, in Section 14-14n-61e, was junked and abandoned after being drilled to 464 ft. 2 Gruy Petroleum Management Co., a subsidiary of Magnum Resources Inc., Irving, Texas, plans a wildcat well about 40 miles southwest of Gallup, N.M., in northeastern Arizona. The company's #24-6-Santa Fe-Whispership is in Section 24-20n-28e in central Apache County. The target formation is Permian Coconino at 1,300 ft. The company also plans to drill the #12-11 Santa Fe-Goodyear wildcat in Section 12 of the same township, also to Coconino. The nearest production was some six miles east-northeast in now-abandoned Navajo Springs East Field, which produced from Triassic Shinarump and Coconino at depths shallower than 1,500 ft., according to IHS Energy. 3 Denver-based Bill Barrett Corp. brought in a discovery with its #11-33H Picard in Section 33-30n-58e, approximately 12 miles north of Bainville in Roosevelt County, Mont. Barrett drilled two open-hole horizontal laterals in Ratcliffe. Lateral #1 extended 13,602 ft. east-southeast and Lateral #2 went to 13,380 ft. south-southeast. Vertical depth is about 9,110 ft. The nearest Ratcliffe production is two miles north and northwest in the Target/Gunsight Field area. 4 Veteran Bakken player Continental Resources Inc., Enid, Okla., has applied for a dual-lateral horizontal well drilling permit for its #1-12H Kim in Section 12-24n-53e in Richland County, Mont., approximately 17 miles northeast of Richey. Lateral #1 is proposed to 14,461 ft. and Lateral #2 to 13,398 ft., and both to a vertical depth of 9,647 ft. The nearest Bakken drilling is about 1.5 miles south, but no details have been released. 5 Three wildcats aimed Lower Frontier oil and gas zones have been permitted on a northwest to east-southeast trend by Houston Exploration Co., Houston, between eight and 13 miles south and southeast of Big Timber in Sweet Grass County, Mont. The #7-6 Deer Creek, in Section 6-2s-15e, is projected to 3,617 ft; the #11-13 Deer Creek in Section 13-2s-15e is scheduled to 4,954 ft.; and, the #7-33 Deer Creek in Section 33-1s-14e will go to 3,422 ft. The nearest production is some 18 miles south-southeast in Dean Dome Field, which produces from Lower Cretaceous Greybull sand at a depth shallower than 3,300 ft., according to IHS Energy. 6 Murex Petroleum Corp., Aurora, Colo., plans a dual-lateral horizontal wildcat two miles southwest of Tioga in eastern Williams County, N.D., on the Nesson Anticline. It will drill the #1-12H Stacey-Lynne from a surface location in Section 1-156n-96w, about 1.25 miles east of the inactive West Bank Field discovery well. That vertical well produced 5,883 bbl. of oil and 10,366 bbl. of water from Lodgepole and Bakken perforations. 7 The #1 Lynn discovery, in Section 23-153n-101w, McKenzie County, N.D., tested at the rate of 220 bbl. of oil, 191,000 cu. ft. of gas and 13 bbl. of water a day for Missouri Basin Well Service Inc., Belfield, N.D. The Birdbear (Nisku) formation well is more than five miles south of Williston. The closest Nisku production is about two miles southwest on the northeastern flank of Indian Hill Field. Missouri Basin produces from perforations between 11,008-12 ft., but the company also perforated Duperow between 11,244-46 ft. and between 11,353-86 ft. and set a retrievable bridge plug. The operator said the well can produce from Duperow. It tested the Birdbear section through a 5/16-in. choke. 8 Continental Resources Inc. has placed a discovery into production at an undisclosed rate from two open-hole Bakken horizontal laterals northwest of Dickinson in Stark County, N.D. The #1-5 Eleanore's surface location is in Section 5-140n-97w. Lateral #1 bottoms in the same section at 16,503 ft., while Lateral #2 bottoms in Section 6 to the northwest at 16,893 ft. The discovery is approximately 3.5 miles north of Heart South Field, a Tyler producer. The nearest Bakken production is 4.5 miles west at a 1990 horizontal discovery. That well, the #31-9H Kuntz, tested at 67 bbl. of oil per day but was abandoned after producing only 560 bbl. of oil, according to IHS Energy. 9 OCT LLC, Denver, has asked for a drilling permit for the #1-1-3 Federal in Section 3-39n-90w, off the northern flank of the Wind River Basin in central Wyoming. The deep wildcat will be drilled to 15,000 ft. to test Lance zones, about 26 miles east-northeast of Shoshoni in Fremont County. The company's test is about four miles north of Madden Field, which produces from multiple zones, including Lance. The closest Lance producer is 3.5 miles south-southeast, where the #1-24 Leonard tested at 2.88 million cu. ft. of gas per day from Lance between 14,628-88 ft. The 1984 well produced 562.4 million cu. ft. of gas, 7,231 bbl. of condensate and 3,044 bbl. of water through September 2000. It was later re-entered and tested at another Lance zone but was shut in on completion. 10 Salt Lake City's Questar Exploration & Development Co. got the industry's first approval to conduct year-round drilling in the area of the Pinedale Anticline in Sublette County in southwestern Wyoming. Normally, drilling prohibitions or restrictions apply to the area for about nine months of the year. In getting the permit, the company volunteered to drill multiple wells per pad to reduce surface disturbance by nearly two-thirds and cut the number of pads from 150 down to 61. If the government allows the company's proposed 107-mile pipeline, it can eliminate 70 tanker truck trips a day, or 25,467 trips a year in and out of the area. The proposed development will cost the company $209.5 million instead of $37.5 million formerly budgeted, but Questar can drill its properties in nine years instead of 18, and that earlier production will make up the cost difference. 11 The BP America Production Co. arm of London-based BP Plc tested gas flowing at a rate of 1.8 million cu. ft. per day with eight bbl. of condensate and 60 bbl. of water at its #13-1 Battle Springs wildcat in Section 13-23n-94w in northeastern Sweetwater County, Wyo., in the Great Divide Basin. The well produces from one Lewis interval and two Mesaverde intervals between 12,046 and 12,952 ft. It tested the well through a 28/64-in. choke. The nearest production is two miles west at a Mesaverde producer in the area of Red Desert Field. 12 ExxonMobil Corp. completed two Mesaverde gas discoveries in Rio Blanco County, Colo., in the Piceance Basin. The #F31X-35G Little Hills-Federal, in Section 35-1n-97w, flowed 765,000 cu. ft. of gas and 166 bbl. of water a day after stimulation of six zones from 10,344 to 14,326 ft. The well is about five miles from the nearest production. Some 4.5 miles northwest, the company's #T68X16G Pinto Gulch-Federal in Section 18-1n-97w flowed 799,000 cu. ft. of gas and 273 bbl. of water a day from five fractured intervals. 13 EnCana Oil & Gas (USA) Inc., the subsidiary of Calgary-based EnCana Corp., tested nearly 2.6 million cu. ft. of gas a day with no fluids from a wildcat discovery about 22 miles northwest of Parachute in Garfield County, Colo. The #8001D-A24-498 Figure Four, in Section 24-4s-98w, produced from nine fractured Mesaverde intervals-eight in Williams Fork and one in Corcoran/Sego-from 6,074 to 9,141 ft., according to IHS Energy. 14 The U.S. Bureau of Land Management released its Roan Plateau Draft Resource Management Plan for the oil shale country west of Rifle and north of Parachute, Colo. It includes the Naval Oil Shale Reserves 1 and 3 and contains extensive gas resources as well as shale oil. Under the agency's preferred plan, it will allow oil and gas leasing on all 34,758 acres on top of the plateau but not until 80% of the anticipated wells below the cliffs have been completed. That should take about 16 years. The total planning area contains 73,602 acres in southern Rio Blanco County north of Interstate 70.