?1 A drilling permit has been issued to Wind River?II Corp., Salt Lake City, for a 7,000-ft. wildcat on the western end of the Mogollon Plateau in northwestern Arizona about five miles southeast of St. George, Utah. The #10-1 Ft. Pierce, in Section 10-41n-11w, northern Mohave County, will be drilled on an 80-acre federal lease and reportedly targets Mississippian Redwall and secondarily, Cambrian Tapeats. The nearest current production is more than 100 miles northeast in Utah’s Upper Valley Field, a Kaibab pool on the northern end of the Kaiparowits Basin.

2 The Utah state oil, gas and mining division reports record oil and gas production in the Beehive State and, according to IHS Inc. and Rocky Mountain Oil Journal, exploration isn’t far behind. Wolverine Gas & Oil Co. of Utah LLC has spudded #21-1 Twist Canyon-Federal, a directional wildcat on the Utah Hingeline in Section 21-21s-1e, Sevier County. It is projected to reach total depth at 12,550 ft. in the Permian Toroweap.
Cedar Mountain LLC, Oklahoma City, has received a drilling permit for the first of two exploratory wells to evaluate coalbed-methane potential of a remote and relatively unexplored area on the southern Wasatch Plateau, near Cedar City in 37s-10w, Iron County. Dallas-based Pioneer Natural Resources USA Inc. has received a wildcat permit for #11C-34-11-9 Jensen-State in Section 34-11s-9e, eight miles from Helper, Utah, in southeastern Utah County.
Farmington-based Robert L. Bayless, Producer LLC has scheduled two offsets on the southeastern flank of the Uinta Basin about 34 miles north of Cisco in Uintah County. Finally, Newfield Production Co., Houston, has received a drilling permit for a deeper-pool test in the Uinta Basin’s Monument Butte Field, about 11 miles south of Myton, Utah.

3 A development drilling program by Houston-based?Ultra Resources Inc. paid off with a high-volume Pinedale Anticline producer about 12 miles south of Pinedale, Wyo.?The #6A1-2D Riverside, in Section 2-31n-109w, Sublette County, flowed 14.5 million cu. ft. of gas, 38 bbl. of condensate and 1,005 bbl. of water per day from 23 fracture-stimulated stages in Lance between 8,610 and 13,776 ft. Flowing casing pressure was 3,913 psi. Directionally drilled east-southeastward to 13,890 ft. at a bottomhole location, the true vertical depth is 13,679 ft.

4 Questar Exploration & Production Co. of Salt Lake City has received a drilling permit for a 13,225-ft. horizontal exploratory test targeting Baxter shale on the Colorado side of the Vermillion Basin, approximately 50 miles south-southeast of Rock Springs, Wyo. The #2H Sparks Ridge Unit, in Section 7-11n-101w, northwestern Moffat County, will be drilled south-southeastward to a bottomhole location in the same section.

5 North Park, and the counties of Jackson and Routt, Colo., are very busy. An oil and gas lease sale drew an average $130 per acre, and Yates Petroleum Corp. of Artesia, N.M., made the highest per-acre bid: $135 for Tract 94, Section 20-6n-87w. Separately, Northglenn, Colo.-based independent Wellstar Corp. has applied for drilling permits for three exploratory tests targeting Niobrara and Frontier in an area of North Park Basin seven to nine miles southeast of Walden.
Meanwhile, Pioneer Natural Resources, Dallas, and Samson Resources Co., Tulsa, have applied for Niobrara/Sand Wash Basin wildcat permits close to Craig, Colo., and Bonanza Creek Energy Operating Co LLC, Bakersfield, Calif., has applied for a permit to drill a 9,100-ft. wildcat targeting Cretaceous horizons about two miles north of Walden, in Section 9-9n-79w, Jackson County.

6 New Orleans-based Helis Oil?& Gas Co. LLC has completed a southern Nesson Anticline horizontal exploratory test five miles northwest of Mandaree, N.D., as a producer in Three Forks/Sanish. The #4-23H Jones, in Section 23-150n-95w, eastern McKenzie County, was tested on a 26/64-in. choke initially flowing 768 bbl. of 46-degree oil, 545,000 cu. ft. of gas and 416 bbl. of water daily through six fracture-stimulated ports at 11,456 ft., 12,222 ft., 12,984 ft., 13,735 ft., 14,478 ft. and 15,234 ft. Flowing casing pressure was 800 psi.?Helis drilled the lateral southeastward to true vertical depth of 10,764 ft. The #4-23H Jones is about one mile off the southeastern flank of Blue Buttes Field, where wells produce from Madison, Interlake and Red River.

7 Preliminary data on a new horizontal Continental Resources Inc. producer in northwestern North Dakota’s Three Forks/Sanish play includes confirmation of a Nesson Anticline discovery about 10 miles west of Mandaree. The #1-2H Croff, Section 2-149n-96w, northeastern McKenzie County, flowed an average 1,001 bbl. of oil equivalent daily from a lateral drilled to 19,622 ft. on a 1,280-acre spacing unit comprised of sections 2 and 11. The company owns a 33% working interest.
At its surface location, the well is a south offset to Enid, Okla.-based Continental’s #1-35H Mathistad in Section 35-150n-96w, which was completed in July producing an average of 1,095 bbl. of oil equivalent per day from Three Forks/Sanish. The latter well was drilled to an approximate measured depth of 20,550 ft. on a 1,280-acre spacing unit comprising all of sections 26 and 35. Continental has 577,000 net acres in the Bakken shale play in North Dakota and Montana.

8 A Marathon Oil Co. Middle Bakken producer on the northeastern flank of Bailey Field in central Dunn County, N.D., initially flowed 315 bbl. of 40.4-degree oil, 179,000 cu. ft. of gas and 48 bbl. of water per day.?The Houston-based producer’s #11-15H Voigt, in Section 15-146n-93w, about 10 miles northeast of Dunn Center, was tested in a fractured open-hole horizontal Middle Bakken lateral at 10,844-19,850 ft. Its bottomhole location lies south in Section 22-146n-93w. Flow was measured through a 16/64-in. choke with a casing pressure of 1,500 psi. Formation tops include Upper Bakken at 10,540 ft. (true vertical depth) and Middle Bakken at 10,557 ft. (true vertical depth).

9 EOG Resources Inc. has received a first-of-its-kind permit to inject CO2 into a horizontal Middle Bakken producer operated by the company in east-central Mountrail County, N.D., near the town of Palermo.?The Houston-based operator’s proposal is to inject about 500 to 600 bbl. per day at 1,000 psi of liquid CO2 over a 30-day period into the wellbore of #1-02H Austin in Section 2-154n-90w. The discovery was completed last year and initially flowed 1,119 bbl. of oil and 364,000 cu. ft. of gas daily from a fractured horizontal lateral extending from 9,484 ft. northwestward to a measured total depth of 14,435 ft.?EOG has 100% working interest in the well.

10 A horizontal wildcat by Wichita, Kan.-based Slawson Exploration Co., approximately 10 miles northwest of Parshall in western North Dakota, initially flowed 1,418 bbl. of 42-degree oil, 425,000 cu. ft. of gas and 1,306 bbl. of load water per day. The #1-9H Pathfinder, in Section 9-152n-91w, southern Mountrail County, is producing from a fractured horizontal lateral in Middle Bakken extending from 10,131 ft. southeastward to a measured total depth of 15,555 ft. A production liner with nine swell packers and 10 sleeves was set in the lateral between 9,248 and 15,510 ft. Flow was gauged through a 14/64-in. choke with a casing pressure of 1,550 psi. Formation tops (true vertical depth) include Upper Bakken at 9,774 ft., Middle Bakken at 9,790 ft. and Middle Bakken target interval at 9,800 ft.

11 A Parshall-area producer of 950 bbl. of oil daily was reported by Slawson Exploration Co. The #1-16H Prowler, in Section 16-152n-91w, southern Mountrail County, is producing from a horizontal lateral in Middle Bakken extending from 10,063 ft. northwestward to a total depth of 13,600 ft. at a bottomhole location in Section 16. True vertical total depth is 9,820 ft. Further details have not been released.

12 ExxonMobil Production Co. has moved specialized drilling, well-control equipment and supplies to the Point Thomson site about 60 miles east of Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. The Point Thomson reservoir is located below 12,000 ft. with anticipated pressure exceeding 10,000 psi, requiring the special equipment. ExxonMobil is spending about $1.3 billion on a five-well drilling and production program and anticipates 200 million cu. ft. and 10,000 bbl. of oil condensate daily. Partners include BP Exploration Inc. (Alaska), Chevron U.S.A. Inc., ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc., and 23 additional companies. ExxonMobil and its partners are in dispute with the state over Point Thompson lease status: the group is proceeding during issue resolution.

Comments