1. Bi-Petro Inc. of Springfield, Ill., plans to drill a 2,700-ft. Devonian test in Christian County, Ill. The location is about one mile northwest of the town of Moweaqua in Section 24-14n-1e. The #2 Shewmaker is 60 ft. west of a 2009 Ronald G. Lockwood test, the #1-L Shewmaker, which lost drill collars in the hole after drilling to 1,810 ft. Nearby oil production is from Assumption Consolidated Field, which is southwest of the new Bi-Petro location. Seven wells in the field produced 2,353 bbl. of crude in December 2009 from the Benoist (Mississippian), Rosiclare Sand (Mississippian) and Lingle (Middle Devonian).

2. An 1,110-ft. exploratory test is planned in McLean County, Ill., near Wapella East Field. Divining Intervention LLC, of Appleton, Wis., will drill #1 Reynolds-Pugh in Section 29-22n-4e to Silurian. Silurian production in the field is currently from four Lahoil Inc. wells in the reservoir where November 2009 output was 1,637 bbl. of crude. Cumulative recovery from the Silurian in Wapella East Field is 3.7 million bbl. of crude. Greg Oestreigh of Clay City, Ill., recently permitted a Silurian well, #1 Sturgeon, in the county’s Section 4-19n-1e.

3. An exploratory test has been staked in Delaware County near Muncie, Ind., by Sierra Resources LLC. The Houston-based company plans to drill #1 Carmichael to 2,000 ft. with Knox as the projected formation. The well is in Section 22-19n-11e. Jack W. Racer of Selma, Ind., has permits for three nearby wildcats including #2 Mayer in the same section. The 1,588-ft. Knox test was temporarily abandoned in October 2009 and Sierra filed a permit to reenter this well. Jack W. Racer drilled #1 Swingley in Section 3-19n-11e in 2004 to a total depth of 1,247 ft. The Trenton Field well was tested flowing small amounts of oil from Black River Lime but was not brought online.

4. In Pickens County, Ala., BNK Petroleum U.S. Inc. has permitted a Black Warrior Basin wildcat in Section 26-24n-3w. The planned total depth of #26-6 Lee is 8,200 ft. The nearest recovery is from one-well Big Creek Field, where the #1 Frances B. Exum 6-16 produced from a Pottsville Coal reservoir and flowed 480,000 cu. ft. of gas and 3 bbl. of water per day through Pennsylvanian perforations at 5,713-19 ft. The 6,230-ft. completion produced 333 million cu. ft. of gas, 180 bbl. of condensate and 4,575 bbl. of water through 1992. BNK is headquartered in Camarillo, Ca.

5. The Southeastern Oil Review reports Pruett Production Co. has staked a wildcat in Section 12-3n-6e of Escambia County, Ala. The Jackson, Miss.-based company’s #1 Chunn 12-10 will be drilled to 15,000 ft. with Smackover the apparent target. In the same area, Pruett drilled a Big Spring Creek Field directional lateral, #2 Godwin 14-9, which flowed 330 bbl. of 39.1-degree oil and 257,000 cu. ft. of gas per day through Smackover perforations at 14,436-66 ft. There is additional Smackover recovery from nearby reservoirs, including Chitterling Creek, Huxford East and Robinson Creek fields.

6. Ominex Energy Inc. of Traverse City, Mich., is planning an exploratory well, #1-9 USA & QEI, in Lake County, Mich. The wildcat will be in Section 9-20n-11w and the company plans to drill to Reed City dolomite at 5,000 ft. The original permit, by Quantum Energy, was transferred to Ominex in 2010. North of the planned venture, in Wexford County, a now abandoned well pumped 20 bbl. of oil and 590,000 cu. ft. of gas per day from Devonian Richfield at 4,892-4,902 ft.

7. Summit Petroleum Corp. of Mount Pleasant, Mich., is delineating a Dundee oil discovery in Isabella County, Mich., after drilling vertically to 4,000 ft. The #1-35 Gepford is in Isabella Township, Section 35-15n-4w. According to the Michigan Oil and Gas News, the field is a significant discovery and “the well kicked when drilling into the Dundee oil pay.” Flaring was attempted to control the high flow rate and well pressure before running casing. A snubbing unit was used to run casing, and completion work continues. Summit has staked three offsetting locations in Sherman Township. Nearby production comes from Vernon-Rosebush Field in northeastern Isabella Township and southeastern Vernon Township. The still-producing field yielded 8.1 million bbl. of oil between its discovery in 1944 and 1991.

8. In early May, Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources & Environment will be offering 127,100 acres of state-owned oil and gas rights at an oral-bid public auction in Lansing, Mich. Offered county acreage includes Alpena, Antrim, Arenac, Bay, Charlevoix, Cheboygan, Crawford, Emmet, Gladwin, Grade Traverse, Isabella, Jackson, Kalkaska, Livingston, Midland, Missaukee, Montmorency, Newaygo, Oakland, Oceana, Osceola, Presque Isle, Roscommon and Washtenaw. According to IHS Inc., minimum bidding will be $13 per acre and will continue until all of the tracts have been offered.

9. A West Bay Exploration Co. exploration test, #1-27 West Bay & Boyd, is under way in Jackson County, Mich. The well will be drilled to 4,750 ft. in Norvell Township, Section 22-4s-2e, with a bottomhole location in Section 27 to the south. The apparent target is Trenton in Hanover Field. Nearby production comes from West Bay’s #1-22 Golowic, which produced 200 bbl. of crude per day from Trenton at 4,151-4,235 ft. Log tops include Utica Shale at 3,566 ft. and Trenton at 3,894 ft. The company’s #1-16 Hilden-Rovsek in Section 16-4s-2e was tested in 2009 pumping 200 bbl. of crude per day from Trenton at 3,937-4,200 ft. West Bay is based in Traverse City, Mich.

10. A vertical Marcellus well by Gastar Exploration Ltd. flowed at a stabilized gross rate of 1.5 million cu. ft. of gas and 120 bbl. of condensate per day in Wetzel County, W.Va. According to IHS Inc., #1 James Yoho is in Green Dist., Porter Falls Quad. The company’s first completion in the play was shut in until gas gathering and processing equipment arrangements could be made. The flowing tubing pressure was about 1,000 psi and the well hit approximately 46 ft. of Marcellus shale, according to the company. It was completed with a single-stage frac. Additional completion details are not available. Houston-based Gastar holds a 100% working interest in the well.

11. In Bradford County, Pa., Chief Oil & Gas LLC has scheduled a horizontal wildcat. The #1H Bacon Unit is expected to target Upper Devonian. According to IHS Inc., the new location is in Section 2, Powell Quad, Burlington Township. In June 2009, Dallas-based Chief completed a 6,380-ft. horizontal producer about two miles to the southwest that flowed an unreported amount of gas from openhole Marcellus at 6,357-80 ft. Two miles farther west is the operator’s #1H Black Unit, which flowed gas from an openhole interval between 1,905-6,420 ft. in Upper Devonian. Chesa­peake Energy Corp. has a Marcellus horizontal drilling program in the same area of Bradford County, with three active drillsites.

12. In Susquehanna County, Pa., Chesapeake Energy Corp. recently tested three horizontal Marcellus shale wells with daily rates of more than 8 million cu. ft. of gas. In Susquehanna County, #2H White was drilled to 12,130 ft. and had a peak 24-hour rate of 8.7 million cu. ft. of gas per day. Nearby, #5H White flowed 8.6 million cu. ft. of gas per day after drilling to 12,130 ft. The third completion, #3H Benscoter, was drilled to 10,039 ft. and flowed 8.4 million cu. ft. of gas daily. Additional completion information for these wells is not available. Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake has filed permits to horizontally drill #1H, #3H and #4H White, all in Section 2, Auburn Center Quad, Auburn Township, to about 10,400 ft., 6,464 ft. true vertical.