Emerald Bay Energy Inc. said Jan. 7 it has formed a joint venture (JV) with Dallas-based Alliance Petroleum Interests to develop South Texas wells.

The project will be a four-well infield drilling program in South Texas and is the first JV between the two companies. Emerald Bay will be the operator for the project.

Emerald Bay, based in Calgary, Alberta, has experience drilling, operating and reworking about 400 wells in the near vicinity, the release said.

Commencement is expected to begin immediately with the first two wells to be drilled and completed over the next few weeks.

Alliance Petroleum Interests previously evaluated the selected location for stringent geological criteria to ensure the financial success of the wells, according to the release.

Alliance is a privately owned and operated oil and gas company. It explores, develops and acquires prolific oil and gas reserves primarily in Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana and Colorado, the release said.