1 Shell Offshore Inc. permitted the farthest offshore well to date in the eastern Gulf of Mexico in Lloyd Block 399. The company plans to drill its #1 OCS-G-23480 in 8,987 ft. of water on the block acquired in OCS Sale 181 in December of 2001 for $22.14 million. The previous records in the area were held by Anadarko Petroleum Corp., The Woodlands, Texas, at its unsuccessful Hawkeye prospect in Lloyd 360 and at its Jubilee East discovery in Lloyd 265, some 10 miles to the northwest of the Shell prospect. Shell plans up to four exploratory tests on its block, according to IHS Energy. 2 Sparsely drilled Oktibbeha County, Miss., will get a 15,700-ft. wildcat well planned by Clayton Williams Energy Inc., Midland, Texas. Fewer than 50 wells have been drilled to date in the northeast Mississippi county. Clayton Williams will drill the #1 Longview in Section 20-18n-13e, more than 2.5 miles southeast of an abandoned wildcat drilled to 9,550 ft. in 1984. The nearest production to the well is about 6 miles to the northwest, where the #2 Richardson in Maben Field has produced 3.5 billion cu. ft. of gas from Knox between 14,000 and 14,901 ft. since 1999. That well produced 45.4 million cu. ft. of gas in January this year. Maben Field and Maben South Field have the only producing wells in the county. 3 Midroc Operating Co., Dallas, has scheduled two more 12,100-ft. wildcats in its Smackover exploration program in the area of Little Cedar Creek Field in southeastern Conecuh County, Ala., where only 100 wells have been drilled. The company's #12 Overby "12" is in Section 15-14n-12e, about a half-mile east-northeast of the #16 Cedar Creek Land & Timber "16" well. The latter well is more than a third of a mile south-southwest of Midroc's #4 Cedar Creek Land & Timber "21" well, which flowed 242 bbl. of oil and 210,000 cu. ft. of gas per day from Smackover between 11,628-52 ft. Flowing tubing pressure was 70 psi through a 48/64-in. choke. 4 Addison, Texas, independent MDM Energy Inc. plans two 2,500-ft. wildcats aimed at Silurian in Macon County in central Illinois on the northwestern flank of the Illinois Basin. The #1 A. Beery is in Section 19-17n-2e, about a mile outside of Decatur and about 2 miles north of the closest production in Decatur Field, which produces from Silurian at about 2,000 ft. The second wildcat is the #1 Waite in Section 30-15n-1e, a mile north-northwest of Blue Mound and almost a mile south of Blackland South Field, a 14-well Silurian pool. The field produced 147,000 bbl. of oil between 1982 and 1997 when it was abandoned. 5 Pioneer Oil Co. Inc., Lawrenceville, Ill., will test Silurian zones at its #1 Seip wildcat in the western Illinois Basin just east of Hoffman, Ill. The well, in Section 7-1n-1w in eastern Clinton County, is about 2 miles east-southeast of Hoffman Field. That field, which opened in 1939, produced from Cypress at about 1,200 ft. and Benoist at around 1,300 ft. until 1991. That year, a deeper-pool well produced from Devonian at 2,790 ft. The field has produced a cumulative 961,000 bbl. of oil. The projected depth of the Pioneer well is 3,200 ft., said IHS Energy. 6 Ward Lake Drilling Inc., Gaylord, Mich., has scheduled two wildcat wells targeting Devonian a section apart in Steuben County, Ind. The company's #B3-34 Hollais scheduled to 1,382 ft. in Section 34-38n-14e, some 3 miles south of Freemont Field, which produces from Trenton, and 2.4 miles southeast of the town of Freemont. The #D3-35 Felger is proposed to 1,361 ft. in Section 35 of the same township. That well is about 2.6 miles southeast of Freemont Field and 2.2 miles southeast of the town. 7 A deeper-pool well has been scheduled by Geopetro LLC, Worthington, Ohio, in Birmingham Erie Field in Lot 73, Florence Township, in Erie County, Ohio. The 2,000-ft. #1 American Stone will target the Lockport formation a mile north of Birmingham, Ohio, said an IHS Energy report. 8 East Resources Inc., Wexford, Pa., hit Trenton-Black River for a 30-million-cu.-ft.-a-day discovery in Section C, Bradford Quad, Orange Township, in Schuyler County, N.Y. The discovery produced from perforations between 8,638 and 8,770 ft. 9 New York's Chemung County gave up four Trenton-Black River discoveries. Fairman Drilling Co., Dubois, Pa., completed the #1 Kienzle at a rate of 300,000 cu. ft. of gas a day after drilling to 9,271 ft. in Section H, Mountour Falls Quad, Veteran Township, about 1.7 miles northeast of Millport, N.Y. Also in Section H, the company drilled the #1 Lant to 9,140 ft. and tested 15 million cu. ft. of gas a day. Additionally, after drilling to 9,714 ft., Fairman tapped Trenton-Black River for a flow of 8 million cu. ft. a day at a well in Section I, Beaver Dam Quad, Catlin Township, about 7.5 miles southwest of Odessa. 1Pennsylvania General LLC wà , Warren, Pa., drilled the #1412 Lederer to 9,800 ft. to tap Trenton-Black River for 6.6 million cu. ft. of gas a day in Section G, Montour Falls Quad, Catlin Township. That well is about 7.2 miles northwest of Big Flats Airport, according to IHS Energy. 10 Turm Oil Co., Butler, Pa., tested 42,000 cu. ft. of gas a day from its #1 Zecca discovery well in Section C, Freeport Quad, Buffalo Township, in Armstrong County, Pa. The 3,800-ft. Upper Devonian well produced after fracturing the Hundred Foot Sand, Bayard, Speechley and Balltown formations between 1,533 and 3,136 ft. The well is located about 3 miles northeast of Freeport and 1.5 miles northeast of Freeport Field, which produces from Upper Devonian. 11 Also in Armstrong County, Dominion Exploration & Production Inc., Houston, drilled the #2 H. Bier wildcat to 4,000 ft. to find 531,000 cu. ft. of natural gas in Devonian. The well is in Section D, Avonmore Quad, Kiskiminetas Township, about 5.1 miles east of Ashville and 7.1 miles southeast of an unnamed field that produces from Balltown. 12 Linn Operating LLC, Pittsburgh, Pa., scheduled two wildcat wells to Big Injun at 2,400 ft., both in Otter District, Herold Quad in Braxton County, W.Va. The company's #1605 Warder is 6.9 miles south of Gassaway, and 2 miles northeast of an unnamed Big Lime field. The #1606 Keener is 1.8 miles west of the unnamed field and also 6.9 miles from the town of Gassaway. 13 Inexco Oil Co., Midland, Texas, permitted four 5,000-ft wildcats to New Albany in a lightly drilled area of the eastern Moorman Trough between 6 and 10 miles north and northeast of Morgantown in western Kentucky. The company's #1 Brent Evens, in 4-J-35, #1 Richard Lacefield, in 9-J-36, and #1 Gary Eulema et al in 16-K-36 all are in northern Butler County, while the #1 Russell Daugherty et al, is in 18-K-34, southeastern Ohio County. The area has only one New Albany producer, about 4 miles northeast of the #1 Gary Eulema well. That was a gas producer drilled in 1980. Although the wells were permitted to 5,000 ft., the New Albany generally occurs in this area at depths shallower than 2,000 ft. If Inexco does drill the wells to the greater depth, it should be able to evaluate zones through Knox. The deepest test in this area has gone only to 4,459 ft. That well reached the top of the Knox formation at 4,290 ft. after penetrating the St. Louis, Salem, Fort Payne, New Albany, Sellersburg, Grassy Knob, Clinton shale, Laurel, Maquoketa, Trenton and Wells Creek, according to IHS Energy. 14 Glasgow, Ky., independent Majestic Management Corp. P# plans a pair of 1,999-ft. Knox exploratory wells approximately 6 miles southwest of Jamestown, Ky. The #10 H.Z. Rakestraw will be drilled about 1,000 ft. east of the 9 H.Z. Rakestraw; both in Section 3-E-53, Creelsboro Quad, Russell County. The wells are about a half-mile southeast of Creelsboro Consolidated Field, which produces from Knox. Majestic recently drilled four other Knox tests in the area but released no details on the wells. 15 Columbia Natural Gas Resources Inc. Q3 , Charleston, W.Va., racked up a couple of new field discoveries in Devonian in Knox District, Wharncliffe Quad, in Buchanan County, Va. The #25206 Buchanan Energy Co. well tested at 483,000 cu. ft. of gas a day after commingling fractured zones between 3,002 and 5,382 ft. in Bradley, Weir, Berea, Gordon and Lower Huron. The well is 1.4 miles southwest of an unnamed Berea Field and 7.5 miles southwest of the town of Gilbert Creek. The #24729 Buchanan Energy Co. well tested for 764,000 cu. ft. of gas a day after fracturing from commingled production between 3,114 and 5,156 ft. from Big Lime, Weir, Berea, Gordon and Lower Huron. 16 A wildcat has been scheduled for Overton County, Tenn. 1Chattam Drilling Co., Dam, Va., has permitted the #2 Donald Norrod, in Section 21-1s-51e, to Knox at 2,000 ft. The well is in Livingston Quad, about 4.8 miles northeast of the town of Livingston and a half-mile northwest of an unnamed field that produces from Nashville, said IHS Energy. 17 Ariana Energy LLC, Oak Ridge, Tenn., has staked a wildcat in Anderson County, Tenn., near existing production from its Khotan Field. The company's #13 Coal Creek Mining is in Section 2-6s-62e, Windrock Quad. The 5,000-ft. well, projected to Knox, is about 1.4 miles west of Khotan Field and 3.6 miles northwest of the town of Oliver Springs. The company also plans to drill the #12 Coal Creek Mining and #16 Coal Creek Mining development wells in Khotan Field, both to Knox, in Section 10-6s-62e, Windrock Quad.