Western U.S.

1 Pioneer Natural Resources, Dallas, posted a discovery with its #1 Cronus wildcat in Section 8-8n-6e, Umiat Meridian, about 14 miles southeast of Nuiqsut on the North Slope of Alaska. The company didn't report test production rates, but the well reached a thick section of Torok oil sand and a thin oil sand in Jurassic Kuparuk C. Pioneer will analyze log results before deciding on an appraisal well. The nearest production is six to seven miles east-southeast in the Meltwater section of the Kuparuk River Unit. That pool produces Seabee oil at depths shallower than 6,000 ft., according to IHS Energy. 2 Aurora Gas LLC, Anchorage, will drill a wildcat on the Kenai Peninsula. According to IHS Energy, #1 Endeavor is in Section 3-5s-15w, Seward Meridian. The drillsite is seven miles west-southwest of North Fork Field, a Tyonek gas pool. The #1 Endeavor will evaluate Lower Tyonek and Hemlock oil zones between 8,000 ft. and a projected depth of 9,200 ft. and will also evaluate shallower Tyonek gas zones. 3 Two wildcats will look for oil at an undisclosed depth in Kern County, Calif., in Section 26-26s-23e, for Houston-based Texas Crude Energy Inc. The #26-1H Malibu is 7.7 miles northwest of Wasco and 2.9 miles northeast of the nearest production in Semitropic Field, which produces from San Joaquin. The #26-2H Malibu is 7.9 miles northwest of Wasco and 2.7 miles northeast of Semitropic Field, IHS Energy says. 4 Winn Exploration Co. Inc., Corpus Christi, Texas, drilled a wildcat to 7,500 ft. in Long Valley, Nev. The location is 36 miles northwest of Ely. The #24-1 Long Canyon-Federal, positioned at Section 24-20n-58e, northwestern White Pine County, is 60 miles southeast of Blackburn Field in the Pine Valley and 65 miles north of production in the oil fields of Railroad Valley. The nearest drilling to a comparable depth is about 10 miles northwest, at #14-14 Grubstake- Federal in Section 14-21n-57e. 5 Nevada approved drilling permits for the Tierra Nevada Exploration Partners LP subsidiary of Terra Insight Corp., New York, to construct two wildcats in northeastern Nevada to a depth of 8,000 ft. One will be 38 miles southwest of Ely in White River Valley. The #1 Sage in Section 20-10n-61e in Nye County will be drilled about 26 miles east-northeast of Trap Spring Field. IHS Energy says it is 1.5 miles south and slightly east of a 7,118-ft. dry hole completed in 1993. The other wildcat will be drilled 32 miles southwest in Railroad Valley. The #1 Black Rock will be 65 miles southwest of Ely in Section 29-8n-56e, Nye County, five miles northwest of Sans Springs Field, a Garrett Ranch oil pool, and six miles south-southwest of Trap Spring Field. 6 A discovery on the southwestern flank of the Uinta Basin in northeastern Utah produced 462,000 cu. ft. of gas, eight bbl. of condensate and 208 bbl. of water daily for EOG Resources, Houston. The wildcat is 21 miles south-southwest of Myton. The #1-25 Big Spring, in Section 25 of irregular township 10s-15e, southeastern Duchesne County, produces from Mesaverde zones between 9,413 and 12,884 ft. 7 Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Wolverine Gas & Oil Co. has staked the southernmost wildcat on the Hingeline play in Utah. Wolverine touched off the Hingeline play with its 2004 discovery of Covenant Field near Sigurd in south-central Utah. Positioned in Section 10-24s-2w, southwestern Sevier County, #10-1 Wolverine-Federal-Glenwood will be drilled to a depth of 12,550 ft. in Twin Creek (Jurassic) about 2.5 miles south of the town of Glenwood. The site is more than six miles southwest of Covenant Field. 8 A discovery by Nance Petroleum Corp., Billings, Mont., produced at a rate of 331 bbl. of oil and 70 bbl. of water a day from Red River C perforations between 11,344-58 ft. and 11,364-70 ft. The company's #4-36 North Brush Lake-State, in irregular Section 36-34n-58e, is about seven miles northwest of Grenora, N.D., in eastern Sheridan County, Mont. Nance drilled the well to 11,575 ft. 9 Approximately 18 miles south-southeast of Poplar in northeastern Montana, Burlington Resources Oil & Gas Co. LP, Houston, completed a dual-lateral horizontal producer on the western edge of the current Bakken play. The #41-33H 52 BR discovery tested at an initial rate of 506 bbl. of oil per day, with 253,000 cu. ft. of gas and 70 bbl. of water in Section 33-25n-52e, northwestern Richland County. According to IHS Energy, one lateral extends south-southwestward to a bottomhole location in the same section. True vertical total depth is 9,011 ft. A second lateral reached north-northwestward to a bottomhole location in Section 28. True vertical depth is 8,958 ft. 10 Hess Corp., New York, completed a wildcat on the Nesson Anticline more than a mile north-northwest of White Earth, N.D. The horizontal Bakken producer flowed 60 bbl. of oil, 73,000 cu. ft. of gas and 15 bbl. of water daily. The #23-44H Edward Will Trust is in Section 23-157n-94w in northwestern Mountrail County. During a span of 28 days in January, the wildcat produced 1,681 bbl. of oil, 2.04 million cu. ft. of gas and 432 bbl. of water. Production is from a lateral extending northeast of the surface location with a lateral from 10,075 to 15,444 ft. 11 Tulsa, Okla., independent Zenergy Inc. completed #1-15H Lassey, a horizontal wildcat nearly 11 miles west-northwest of Alexander in western North Dakota, pumping 80 bbl. of oil, 40,000 cu. ft. of gas and 271 bbl. of water per day. The #1-15H Lassey is in Section 15-151n-103w, northwestern McKenzie County. The wildcat produces from an untreated open-hole horizontal Ratcliffe (Madison) lateral extending from 9,243 to 14,596 ft., measured depth, according to IHS Energy. In the first four months online, #1-15H Lassey produced 4,619 bbl. of oil, 798,000 cu. ft. of gas and 21,263 bbl. of water. February output averaged about 32 bbl. of oil and 155 bbl. of water daily. 12 Continental Resources Inc., Enid, Okla., applied for a drilling permit for a second exploratory test in the southeastern flank of the Big Horn Basin in northwestern Wyoming. The #25-1 Ray, in Section 25-45n-91w in central Washakie County, is roughly 15 miles southeast of Worland. The wildcat is projected to 10,600 ft. in Madison and will presumably evaluate shallower Phosphoria and Tensleep zones. The nearest producer is #29-1 Altus in Section 29-45n-91w in Neiber Dome Field, which produced 26,637 bbl. of oil and 235,942 bbl. of water from March 1982 to November 2001. 13 Midland, Texas, independent BTA Oil Producers drilled a Washakie Basin gas discovery in Lewis and Almond formations in Wyoming. The #5-1 Dug Springs South Unit is in Section 5-16n-95w, 20 miles south of Wamsutter in southeastern Sweetwater County. The wildcat was drilled to a total depth of 13,164 ft. and completed for an initial flowing potential of 380,000 cu. ft. of gas, one bbl. of condensate and 14 bbl. of water per day from two fracture-stimulated zones-Lewis at 12,740-50 ft. and Almond at 12,904 to13,046 ft.-according to IHS Energy. 14 Bepco Operating Co., Midland, Texas, completed a northern Piceance Basin wildcat, #1-1 Yellow Creek-Federal, in irregular Section 1 of irregular Township 1s-98w, Rio Blanco County, Colo., roughly 22 miles west-southwest of Meeker. The well flowed 1.62 million cu. ft. of gas per day and from two Mesaverde zones-Cozzette at 10,869-72 ft. and Corcoran at 11,072 to 11,564 ft. 15 Antero Resources Corp., Denver, has completed a wildcat in a nonproducing eastern Piceance Basin township about two miles east of Rifle, Colo. The #A1 Lundgren is in Section 32-5s-92w, Garfield County, and flowed 284,000 cu. ft. of gas and 230 bbl. of water per day from several fracture-stimulated Mesaverde zones. According to IHS Energy, the discovery is four miles north of Wasatch and Mesaverde gas producers in Mamm Creek Field. 16 Raydon Exploration Inc., Oklahoma City, applied for a drilling permit to drill #1-7 Hodges wildcat in Section 7 of partial township 35s-45w, roughly 27 miles south-southeast of the town of Walsh and a mile north of the Oklahoma border in southern Baca County, Colo. The well will test Des Moines to 4,500 ft. The venture is 0.75-mile off the southeastern flank of Campo Field, a Lansing-Kansas City pool producing from approximately 3,700 to 4,000 ft.