?­­­1 A wildcat Devonian discovery was completed by MDM Energy Inc. near Effingham in Effingham County, Ill.?IHS Inc. reports that the 3,813-ft. #1 Anita Lake Community, in Section 26-8n-5e, was tested through perforations at 3,779-83 ft. in the Lingle (Middle Devonian) pumping 65 bbl. of oil per day, with no water, after acid treatment. Log tops reported are Barlow at 2,046 ft.; Cypress, 2,077 ft.; Ste. Genevieve, 2,320 ft.; Upper McClosky, 2,358 ft.; St. Louis, 2,526 ft.; Salem, 2,748 ft.; Ullin, 2,877 ft.; Fort Payne, 2,942 ft.; Borden 3,020 ft.; Carper 3,518 ft.; Chouteau, 3,633 ft.; New Albany 3,642 ft.; Lingle 3,779 ft.; and Geneva at 3,808 ft. MDM reported the Lingle pay has 12% porosity and 28% water saturation. The discovery is about a mile southwest of Effingham West Field and three miles northeast of Funkhouser Field, a three-well pool. MDM opened Effingham West Field in September 2007 with the completion of #1 Pike-Root Community, pumping 65 bbl. of oil per day from Upper Salem. The #1 Pike-Root Community produced 1,565 bbl. of oil in its first 14 months on line, averaging 1 to 2 bbl. daily at last report. MDM Energy is headquartered in Addison, Texas.

2 An?Oelze Equipment Co. LLC deep wildcat in northwestern Washington County, Ill., is aimed at Trenton in the Illinois Basin. Located northeast of Okawville, Ill., #1 Tepe is in Section 1-1s-4w and will be drilled to 3,700 ft. The drillsite is two miles east of the nearest previous producers in nearly abandoned Okawville North Consolidated Field, which produced 231,000 bbl. of oil from Siluro-Devonian at approximately 2,200 ft. The closest Trenton production is 3.5 miles northeast in Santa Fe East Field. A completion in a deeper pool in 2004 tapped the Trenton at 3,400 ft. and Oelze confirmed the Trenton pay three months later. Santa Fe East Field has produced 13,100 bbl. of oil, with one active well producing an average of 5 to 6 bbl. of crude daily. Oelze Equipment Co. LLC headquarters are in Nashville, Ill.

3 Flow-test results were announced from two Kentucky USA Energy Inc. completions in western Kentucky. The four-point flow tests were conducted on two wells, #1 Walker and #2 Francis Grace. The #1 Walker, drilled to 2,340 ft., yielded an absolute open flow rate of 111,000 cu. ft. of gas per day. Shut-in pressures built to approximately 753 psi. The #2 Francis Grace yielded an absolute open flow rate of 100,000 cu. ft. per day. It was drilled to 2,340 ft. and shut-in pressures built to approximately 721 psi. The four-point flow test for each well was conducted with various orifices to establish the largest flow at the lowest surface pressure. Kentucky USA Energy began drilling on its 2,200-acre leasehold in the New Albany Shale in June 2008. The London, Ky.-based independent has drilled four other wells in the development and plans call for performing four-point flow tests on these wells.

4 A wildcat has been spudded by Magnolia, Ark.-based Betsy Production Co. in the central portion of Lamar County, about five miles southwest of the town of Beaverton, Ala. The #1 Gosa “1-7” is expected to reach a total depth of 3,100 ft. and is targeting Carter Sand or Bangor Lime. The well is in Section 1-14s-15w. The closest production site is about a mile southeast from Fairview Field. From its discovery in 1974, through mid-2008, Fairview Field produced primarily from Carter Sand and Gilmer for a cumulative 7.57 billion cu. ft. of gas, 463,854 bbl. of crude and condensate and 85,036 bbl. of water.

5 Venture Oil & Gas Inc. of Laurel, Miss., reports a Smackover discovery and completion in the southwestern portion of Monroe County, about 12 miles southwest of Frisco City, Ala. The well, #1 Uriah Land et al “28-12,” was tested flowing 278 bbl. of 35-degree crude, 188,000 cu. ft. of casinghead gas and 13 bbl. of water through perforations at 13,902-20 ft. Flow was gauged on an 8/64-in. choke, and flowing tubing pressure was measured at 2,156 psi. The new producer was drilled to a total depth of 14,302 ft. in Section 28-5n-5e. Comparable area production is about two miles south-southwest at #1 Irvin Langford “5-10” in Waller Creek North Field in Section 5-4n-5e.

6 According to the Southeastern Oil Review, Sklar Exploration LLC has perforated and is testing a Smackover wildcat near Melrose, Ala. The #1 Craft Ralls 33-8 is in Section 33-5n-13e in Conecuh County. The Little Cedar Creek Field well was drilled to 11,205 ft. The Shreveport, La.-based company is testing though perforations at 11,042-52 ft. Within a mile to the southwest, Sklar completed #1 Craft-Ralls 14 in Section 33-5n-13e, which produced 395 bbl. of 40-gravity oil and 382,000 cu. ft. of gas per day. The gas-to-oil ratio was 967-to-1 from Smackover.

7 Triad Resources Inc. has completed its #802 Johns, a Marcellus producer in Sistersville Field, Union District, New Matamoras Quad, Tyler County, W.Va. According to IHS Inc., the 6,260-ft. vertically drilled completion flowed 5 bbl. of oil and 200,000 cu. ft. of gas per day from 5,950 to 6,028 ft. after fracturing and acidization. Reported log tops at the site are Big Lime, 1,754 ft.; Keener, 1,842 ft.; Big Injun, 1,882 ft.; Weir, 2,306 ft.; Berea, 2,406 ft.; Fifth Sand, 2,831 ft.; Warren, 3,451 ft.; Benson, 4,756 ft.; Alexander 5,001 ft.; Marcellus, 5,968 ft.; and Onondaga, 6,050 ft. Triad Resources’ headquarters are in Reno, Ohio.

8 Operator Epsilon Energy Ltd., headquartered in Concord, Ont., has completed a five-stage, packers-plus completion using a large slickwater frac with various sand concentrations on a 2,200-ft. lateral on the #2H Larue. The test is one of seven Marcellus shale wells in the company’s Highway 706 project located in Rush Township, Bradford County, Pa. On a stabilized rate, #2H Larue flowed in excess of 4.2 million cu. ft. of gas per day. Episilon’s eighth well in the Highway 706 project is #2H Hardic, which is currently being drilled horizontally. Previously reported production tests showed stabilized rates of more than 3 million cu. ft. daily from #1H Larue (drilled horizontally) and more than 1 million cu. ft. daily from a vertical section of #1A Larue. Epsilon is the project operator and holds 100% working interest.

9 A joint venture was announced by MarkWest Energy Partners LP and NGP Midstream & Resources LP to construct and operate natural-gas midstream services to support producers in the Marcellus shale. Denver-based MarkWest will be 60% owner and NGP, 40%, and MarkWest will operate the facilities and contribute approximately $100 million of existing Marcellus shale assets to the joint venture. NGP will invest the next $200 million of capital, which approximates the capital required to fund the Marcellus project in 2009. By the end of 2009, MarkWest and NGP expect the joint venture to be capable of processing up to 240 million cu. ft. of gas per day.?

10 Marcellus shale producers in Pennsylvania may face a tax similar to a 1987 West Virginia 5% natural-gas severance tax. Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell revealed the proposal in his annual budget request. The governor’s plan would impose a 5% tax on the value of gas at the wellhead and add a fee of 4.7 cents per thousand cubic feet of gas extracted from the ground. Opposition to the proposal comes from the Marcellus Shale Committee and Pennsylvania Oil and Gas Association. Both organizations believe that a tax would hinder development by making it harder for producers—especially those involved in shallow gas exploration and production—to raise capital, and at the same time, it would lower their income.