Eastern U.S.

1 Petoskey Exploration LLC of Denver is drilling at a remote horizontal wildcat targeting Trenton (Ordovician) in northwestern Michigan. The #1-3 HD1 Pioneer-State is in Section 3-24n-7w, Pioneer Township, Missaukee County. The well is being drilled to a bottomhole location in the north-northwest part of the same section and the planned true vertical depth is 9,600 ft. The horizontal venture is 1.5 miles west of Cannon Creek Field, a Devonian Traverse gas and Detroit River oil pool. The closest production from Ordovician zones is eight miles northeast where a 12,010-ft. well completed in 2002 initially flowed 750,000 cu. ft. of gas per day from Prairie du Chien between 10,706 and 11,855 ft.

2 Crossville, Tenn.-based TN-K Energy Group Inc. has acquired a 27.5% interest in eight additional locations to be drilled on the JR and Pansy Clark leases in Green County, Ky. These wells will be drilled on the same property in which the company purchased a 27.5% interest in approximately 100 bbl. of daily oil production. Independent TN-K Energy is purchasing lease acreage in Tennessee and Kentucky and plans to expand its operations, including leasing additional properties for oil, gas and coal production.

3 According to the Southeastern Oil Review, Energen Resources Corp. of Birmingham, Ala., is testing a Paleozoic wildcat in Tuscaloosa County, Ala. The #1 Cain 606H is in Section 7-24n-6e about two miles west of Little Sandy Creek Coal Dega Field. The company was perforating two intervals at 8,978-80 ft. and 9,255-57 ft. The well was fractured and a bridge plug was set at 7,821 ft.

4 Ventex Operating Corp. of Dallas has staked an exploratory test in Section 15-6n-7e, Monroe County, Ala. The #1 Andreeff-Floyd 15-7 is expected to be vertically drilled to 12,500 ft. and the apparent target is Norphlet. Haynesville production is about one mile southeast in the same section. Deeper Norphlet recovery is in Ollie Field, to the southeast. The only other well in the field, #1 Mary Ann Brown, recovered 66,877 bbl. of crude, 217.89 million cu. ft. of gas and 1,203 bbl. of water through 2005 from Norphlet.

5 A Midroc Operating Co. completion from Smackover produced 482 bbl. of 48-degree crude and 401,000 cu. ft. of casinghead gas per day through perforations at 10,234-58 ft. The new producer by the Dallas-based company is in Section 14-5n-13e, Conecuh County, Ala. The #14-14 Cedar Creek Land & Timber was tested on a 14/64-in. choke and the flowing tubing pressure was 1,230 psi. The wildcat was drilled to a total depth of 10,525 ft.

6 In northwestern Escambia County, Ala., Venture Oil & Gas Inc. of Laurel, Miss., completed a Smackover discovery. The #1 Mason 36-14 tested 538,000 cu. ft. of gas and 457 bbl. of condensate per day through perforations at 14,902-36 ft. On a 10/64-in. choke, flowing tubing pressure was 2,627 psi. The wildcat completion is in Section 36-3n-6e and was drilled to 15,320 ft. Venture is currently testing a nearby well about one mile southwest at #1 Fountain Farm 2-4. According to IHS Inc., the company is drilling to 15,510 ft. and plans to perforate in Smackover.

7 Wire Grass E&P, a division of El Paso Exploration & Production, Houston, has scheduled a remote workover in the eastern portion of nonproducing Geneva County, Ala. The #1A Paul Peel 1-8 is near the Alabama-Florida state line in Section 1-1n-24e and is expected to be plugged back to a total depth of 3,300 ft. The well was originally named #1 P. Peel “1-8” and was drilled to a total depth of 3,986 ft. in Lower Cretaceous: it was completed in 1982 and an unsuccessful reentry was attempted in 1985. There is no production within a 50-mile radius. The nearest recovery is from several fields in western Covington County, Ala., 60 miles west.

8 Range Resources Corp. of Fort Worth is selling its tight-gas-sands properties in northeast Ohio. Included are about 3,500 producing wells with current net production of approximately 25 million cu. ft. per day. Current production is 70% gas and 30% oil. The properties include nearly 418,000 net acres of leasehold and about 1,600 miles of pipeline and gathering system infrastructure. In 2009, Range sold its Fuhrman Mascho Field properties in West Texas for $182 million.

9 Mountain V Oil & Gas Inc. of Bridgeport, W.Va., reported to IHS Inc. that its #1 Turner produced 267,000 cu. ft. of gas from a recent reentry in Aspinall-Finster Field. The producer is near Gillooly, W.Va., in Court House District, Peterson Quad, Lewis County. The original bore was drilled to 5,000 ft. in 1992. After drilling to 5,033 ft., the reentry was fractured and perforated and flowed from Gordon at 2,174-2,941 ft. Log tops were Big Lime at 1,898 ft., Big Injun at 2,006 ft. and Gordon, 2,498 ft.

10 Private oil and gas drilling on the Allegheny National Forest in northwestern Pennsylvania may resume. A federal judge in Erie, Pa., ruled that the U.S. Forest Service was wrong to institute a ban and require a completed environmental impact statement before drilling. The ruling was in response to a Minard Run Oil Co. and Pennsylvania Oil and Gas Association suit to overturn the ban. In the court’s opinion, the Forest Service and property owners need to continue to cooperate on “split estates” where the land surface belongs to the federal government and 93% of the subsurface—the rights to valuable crude oil and natural gas beneath that forest—is owned by private citizens. The 513,325-acre national forest lies in portions of Warren, Forest, McKean and Elk counties.

11 State College, Pa.-based Rex Energy Corp. completed its first horizontal Marcellus shale well in Clearfield County, Pa. The #1H Alder Run Land LP is in Section 8, Karthaus Quad, Cooper Township, and was drilled to about 8,200 ft. with an approximate 2,700-ft. lateral. According to IHS Inc., the well was tested at an average daily rate of 4.1 million cu. ft. of gas from Marcellus during 13 days. The well is currently shut-in and waiting on a pipeline completion, expected in early February 2010. The company is also drilling #3H Alder Run Land LP, a direct offset to the #1H, and plans to begin fracture stimulation shortly. Nearby, Rex has permitted four sites near the completion. The #1H Alder Run is 1.5 miles northeast of Wertz Hollow Field. In adjacent Centre County, some two miles northeast, is Council Run Field. The company also expects to complete fracture stimulation of its fourth and fifth horizontal wells in Westmoreland County, with flow testing to begin immediately.

12 According to the Unconventional Natural Gas Report, a Pittsburgh subsidiary of Dallas-based Exco Resources Inc. has drilled the first Marcellus shale well in Lackawanna County in Greenfield Township, Pa. The company is studying shale samples from the well, #6V Skyline Golf Course Unit. Exco has permits with the Department of Environmental Protection to drill 27 more wells in Lackawanna County, including two horizontal wells from the same two- to five-acre well pad (#6V Skyline Golf Course Unit). The Susquehanna River Basin Commission has approved the company’s use of ­up to 91,000 gallons of water a day from the South Branch of Tunkhannock Creek in Benton Township for fracturing. The company reported one Marcellus producer in October 2009. The #1 Close in Section I, Ligonier Quad, Lincoln Township, Susquehanna County, produced 115,000 cu. ft. of gas from comingled perforations in Huntersville and Oriskany, but other completion details were not made available.