Eastern U.S.

1 In a nonproducing area of western Illinois, Mannon L. Walters Inc., with headquarters in Evansville, Ind., has staked four remote wildcats about five miles northwest of Jacksonville. According to IHS Inc., the area of investigation is in Morgan County and all tests will be drilled to Trenton. The #1 Robert Joy is in Section 4-15n-11w; #1 David Kirchner is in Section 5-15n-11w; #2 David Kirchner is in Section 28-16n-11w; and #3 David Kirchner is in Section 33-16n-11w. The locations are northwest of Jacksonville Gas Field, which was discovered in 1910 producing from Pennsylvanian above 400 ft. Later drilling in the region established oil pays in Pennsylvanian, McClosky, St. Louis and Salem. Jacksonville Gas Field is the lone field in Morgan County, with last production reported in 1998. Incomplete records indicate the field produced around 8,600 bbl. of oil.

2 According to the Michigan Oil & Gas News, Muskegon Development finaled two Montmorency County, Mich., wells in Albert Township, Section 13-29n-1e. The #C3-13 Big Wolf Lake was drilled to 1,953 ft. and flowed 200,000 cu. ft. of gas and 100 bbl. of water per day from Antrim. The #D3-13 Big Wolf Lake was drilled to 1,938 ft. and after frac and perforation produced 200,000 cu. ft. and 120 bbl of water per day from Antrim. Muskegon Development is based in Mount Pleasant, Mich.

3 Traverse City-based West Bay Exploration Co. completed a wildcat near Napoleon, Mich., which initially produced 170 bbl. of 45.5-degree-gravity oil and 100,000 cu. ft. of gas per day with no water. The #2-16 Hilden-Rovsek is in Section 16-4s-2e, Norvell Township, Jackson County, and produces from treated perforations at 4,630-40 ft. in Trenton. Log tops include Trenton at 4,306 ft. (3,528 ft. true vertical), Black River at 4,650 ft. (3,850 ft. true vertical) and Van Wert at 4,910 ft. (4,454 ft. true vertical). The discovery is the first producer in the township and is south-southeast of Napoleon 3 South Field, which was opened early this year by West Bay with the completion of its #1-29 Lantis discovery.

4 West Bay Exploration Co. reported findings from its discovery at #1-30 Lantis. The initial production was 150 bbl. of oil, 80,000 cu. ft. of gas and 10 bbl. of water per day. The new producer is near Napoleon in Section 30-3s-2e, Napoleon Township, Jackson County, Mich. Testing was performed in an acidized Trenton interval at 4,328-47 ft. after drilling to 4,348 ft. The new producer was drilled from the same drillpad as the #1-29 Lantis discovery.

5 According to the Southeastern Oil Review, Land & Natural Resources Development Inc. completed a Coal Fire Creek Field producer in Pickens County, Ala. After acidizing and fracturing, #2 Cunningham 16-12, a reentry, produced 312,000 cu. ft. of gas with a flowing tubing pressure of 900 psi from Millerella lime perforations at 4,517-25 ft. No formation water production was reported. The well is in Section 16-18s-14w. The original well was drilled to 5,080 ft. and abandoned in 1988. Land & Natural Resources is based in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

6 Jim Walters Resour­ces Inc. of Brookwood, Ala., has spudded a Black Warrior Basin wildcat in Tuscaloosa County, Ala. The wildcat is located north of the Brookwood city limits, where the company is based. Plans call for #4 JWR 25-14 to be drilled to a total depth of 9,125 ft. in Section 25-20s-8w. It is expected to bottom about 3,200 ft. to the northwest beneath the same section. The new venture is primarily surrounded by coalbed-methane gas producers in the Pottsville coal. In the same section, a wildcat to the northwest was completed in 1989 pumping 59,000 cu. ft. of coalbed-methane gas and 4 bbl. of water per day through a fracture-stimulated openhole interval at 1,922-2,060 ft. in the Pottsville coal. Part of Brookwood Coal Degas Field, it has produced about 40 million cu. ft. of gas and 12,000 bbl. of water through 1994. Since 1982, Brook­wood Coal Degas Field has recovered a cumulative 412 billion cu. ft. of gas, 3,733 bbl. of condensate and 139 million bbl. of water from the Pottsville coal.

7 According to the Southeastern Oil Review, Venture Oil & Gas is drilling at #1 Fountain Farms 2-4, a Smackover wildcat in Escambia County, Ala. The Laurel, Miss.-based company’s new venture is in Section 2-2n-6e near Huxford and the planned total depth is 15,000 ft. The site is within a mile of Huxford Field producers, including a discovery well that made 1,070 bbl. of 51.2-gravity oil and 1.09 million cu. ft. of gas per day. Venture drilled and abandoned #1 Fountain Farm 4-16 in Section 4-2n-6e.

8 In southern Alabama’s Tuscaloosa County, Energen Resources Corp. staked a Black Warrior Basin wildcat, about 10 miles northeast of the town of Moundville. The Birmingham-based company plans to drill #1 Cain 6-6 to a total depth of 8,500 ft. IHS Inc. reports that the new venture is located in Section 6-24n-6e. There is no comparable production in the vicinity. The wildcat is primarily surrounded by Pottsville coal coal­bed-methane gas wells. In 1990, a 3,810-ft. well was completed in the same section and produced 20,000 cu. ft. of coalbed-methane gas and 85 bbl. of water per day through fracture-treated perforations at 3,606-81 ft. in Pottsville coal.

9 A wildcat has been staked in the southwestern portion of Alabama’s Conecuh County, by Laurel, Miss.-based Venture Oil & Gas Inc. Southeast from the town of Repton in Section 7-4n-9e, #1 Alford 7-10 is scheduled to be drilled to 12,900 ft. in Smackover. Nearby production is five miles southwest in Section 34-4n-8e: Pruet’s #1 Atic 31-12 flowed 267 bbl. of 42-degree crude and 338,000 cu. ft. of casinghead gas per day through Smackover perforations at 13,242-98 ft. Other Smackover production came from two-well Dean Creek Field, directly south of the #1 Atic 31-12. The two wells produced a cumulative 149,552 bbl. of oil, 69.71 million cu. ft. of gas and 321,865 bbl. of water.

10 Seneca Resources Corp., a subsidiary of National Fuel Gas Co., Williamsville, N.Y., reports its first operated horizontal Marcellus shale well tested at an average rate of 5.8 million cu. ft. per day for six days. The well is in Tioga County, Pa. Seneca is currently drilling its third horizontal well and plans to drill an additional 15 to 20 horizontal Marcellus wells in fiscal 2010. The company also participated in 12 horizontal Marcellus wells drilled by its joint-venture partner EOG Re­sour­ces this year, and expects to participate in approximately 20 EOG-operated wells in fiscal 2010.

11 According to the Unconventional Natural Gas Report, Epsilon Energy Ltd. reported natural-gas production from #2H Poulsen. The well is part of its Highway 706 project that targets Marcellus shale. After fracturing, gas flowed at 1.5 million cu. ft. per day from openhole Marcellus at 7,010-9,045 ft. The producer was drilled to 9,045 ft. in Section 3, Auburn Center 7.5 Quad, Auburn Township, Wyoming County, Pa. Combined with production from #1H Poulsen, Epsilon’s total daily production reached 3.8 million cu. ft. per day. Epsilon has extended its gathering system to the north of the compressor site in order to bring on three wells that have previously yielded a combined production rate of 8.5 million cu. ft. Epsilon currently has compression facilities on location and is working on doubling its compression capacity to 12 million cu. ft. Epsilon’s headquarters are in Concord, Ont.