?1 Houston-based Davis Petroleum Corp. has completed an offset at #5 Puma Deep Unit. The Moxa Arch discovery is located east-southeast of Mountain View in Sweetwater County, Wyo. The well initially flowed 2.94 million cu. ft. of gas, 15 bbl. of condensate and 20 bbl. of water per day after drilling to 13,815 ft. Davis Petroleum drilled the well in Section 26-15n-112w and produces from a fractured Frontier interval at 13,594-13,608 ft. On an 18/64-in. choke, tubing pressure was 1,140 psi and casing pressure was 1,400 psi. Davis has five wells on the 18,000-acre Puma Deep Unit. According to IHS Inc., industry sources indicate Davis is selling its assets, with bids due shortly.

2 In Sweetwater County, Wyo., ConocoPhillips completed an offset to a Great Divide Basin discovery northeast of Wamsutter that initially flowed 1.8 million cu. ft. of gas per day, with no fluids. The #42-18 Monument Lake is in Section 18-21n-92w. The well was tested in two fractured Almond (Mesaverde) intervals at 11,226-27 ft. and 11,301 to 11,625 ft. The flow was gauged through a 20/64-in. choke with a tubing pressure of 390 psi. Drilled to a total depth of 11,850 ft., log tops at the site include Lance at 6,930 ft.; Fox Hills at 8,710 ft.; Lewis at 8,907 ft.; Almond at 11,202 ft.; and Ericson at 11,686 ft.

3 A recently released U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) report estimates that the Piceance Basin of western Colorado contains about 50% more oil shale than believed 20 years ago. According to the new USGS report, the Piceance Basin has an estimated 1.525 trillion bbl. of in-place oil-shale resources and also contains one of the thickest and richest oil shale deposits in the world. However, the environmental and technological challenges of extraction and recoverability, water rights in the semi-arid Colorado climate, incomplete research and development, and federal land-use disputes leave a big question mark on the future of near-term field development.

4 A wildcat completed by Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. of Houston is flowing at a calculated rate of 1.85 million cu. ft. of gas and 600 bbl. of water per day near the southwestern Colorado town of Naturita. The eastern Paradox Basin discovery, #31-30 South Gypsum, is in Section 30 of irregular township 44n-17w, western San Miguel County. The wildcat was flow-tested through a 48/64-in. choke with tubing pressure of 160 psi in two treated Leadville intervals. Gas flowed at 950,000 cu. ft. per day, and water at 336 bbl. per day from Leadville at 8,240-60 ft. A test of a deeper Leadville interval at 8,340-60 ft. recovered 896,000 cu. ft. of gas and 264 bbl. of water daily. Flow was measured through the deeper interval on a 32/64-in. choke with a tubing pressure of 130 psi. A swab test of a shallower Leadville interval at 8,100-68 ft. recovered a trace of gas with water but the company decided that the zone was tight and closed it off with a bridge plug at 8,066 ft. The two deeper, productive Leadville intervals also were shut in and closed off by bridge plugs at 8,220 ft. and 8,325 ft. until a pipeline is built to the site.

5 South of Walden, Colo., Laramie Energy II LLC has plans to drill a fourth remote wildcat in North Park Basin, while EOG Resources Inc. has applied for a drilling permit for a horizontal wildcat. Laramie Energy, with headquarters in Denver, has applied for a drilling permit for the #01-08 Illinois Ranch, in Section 1-6n-79w, Jackson County. The proposed 8,850-ft. test will be drilled to Dakota in a nonproducing township. EOG’s permit is for horizontal wildcat #04-09H Homestead, which will target Niobrara at a proposed location in Section 9-7n-80w, Jackson County. EOG, based in Houston, also has locations staked for nine more Niobrara projects in the area.

6 In Montana’s Rosebud County, Tyler, Texas-based Tyler Rockies Exploration Ltd. has completed a step-out in Kincheloe Ranch Field on the Sumatra syncline. The step-out initially pumped 20 bbl. of 30-degree-gravity oil per day. The #6-4 State is in irregular Section 4-11n-32e and was tested in a Pennsylvanian Tyler A sand interval at 5,348-60 ft. following stimulation. It was drilled to a total depth of 5,450 ft. and cased to 5,444 ft. Log tops include Amsden at 5,064 ft.; Tyler at 5,209 ft.; Tyler A sand at 5,348 ft.; and Heath at 5,390 ft.

7 A horizontal wildcat completion by EOG Resources Inc. in the southern Powder River Basin initially pumped 191 bbl. of oil, 487,000 cu. ft. of gas and 131 bbl. of water per day. The #3-19H Crossbow is in Section 19-41n-71w, southern Campbell County, Wyo. Production is coming from a fracture-stimulated horizontal Niobrara interval at 9,985-13,134 ft. The lateral in Niobrara extends from 9,876 ft. north-northwestward to a measured total depth of 13,441 ft. with the bottomhole location in the same section. True vertical depth is 9,570 ft. Flow was gauged through a 22/64-in. choke with tubing and casing pressures of 200 psi. Log tops in the well’s vertical pilot hole include Sussex at 8,173 ft.; Niobrara, 9,410 ft.; Carlile, 9,854 ft.; and Turner at 9,984 ft. The horizontal discovery is in an area of shallow Fort Union coalbed-methane production nearly two miles northeast of Mary Draw Field.

8 Running Foxes Petro­leum Inc. has completed a Denver-Julesburg Basin wildcat in a nonproducing area southwest of Hugo, Colo., as a discovery in Pennsylvanian Atoka. The Englewood, Colo.-based company’s #16-1 Jolly Ranch is in Section 1-13s-56w, Lincoln County. The well produced 48 bbl. of 32-degree-gravity oil and 92 bbl. of water on a nine-hour swab test of a fracture-stimulated Atoka interval between 7,288 and 7,380 ft. The calculated daily rate is 128 bbl. of oil and 245 bbl. of water. Running Foxes has locations staked for a dozen more Pennsylvanian tests within a mile of the discovery.

9 A horizontal exploratory well by Tulsa-based Panther Energy Co. LLC initially flowed 486 bbl. of oil, 500,000 cu. ft. of gas and 202 bbl. of water daily. Located north of Watford City in McKenzie County, N.D., #9-2H Wil E Coyote is in Section 9-152n-98w and is producing from a fractured horizontal lateral in Three Forks/Sanish extending from 11,414 ft. northwestward to a measured total depth of 16,001 ft. at a bottomhole location in the same section. True vertical depth log tops in the well’s vertical pilot hole include Upper Bakken at 11,060 ft.; Middle Bakken, 11,090 ft.; Lower Bakken, 11,120 ft.; and Three Forks at 11,160 ft. The #9-2H Wil E Coyote is the first of a three-well horizontal Bakken exploratory program by Panther in the Banks Field area.

10 Brigham Oil & Gas L.P. has completed a horizontal exploratory test near Williston, N.D., initially flowing 632 bbl. of oil and 502 bbl. of water per day. Located in McKenzie County, #29-32 1H Figaro is in Section 29-152n-101w and produces from a fractured horizontal Middle Bakken lateral at 11,252-20,673 ft., measured total depth. The bottomhole location is south-southeast in Section 32-152n-101w. Formation tops include Upper Bakken at 10,961 ft. (10,828 ft. true vertical) and Middle Bakken at 11,018 ft. (10,843 ft. true vertical). Brigham’s headquarters are in Austin.

11 In Mountrail County, N.D., a horizontal wildcat by?Oklahoma City-independent Windsor Energy Group LLC initially flowed 825 bbl. of oil, 300,000 cu. ft. of gas and 675 bbl. of water per day. The #1-33H Holst is in Section 33-152n-92w. The wildcat is producing from a horizontal Middle Bakken lateral extending from 10,330 ft. southeastward to a measured total depth of 15,424 ft. Following a 10-stage fracture stimulation, flow was measured through a 32/64-in. choke with a tubing pressure of 400 psi. IHS Inc. reports the following true-vertical log tops: Bakken shale, 10,042 ft.; Middle Bakken, 10,061 ft.; and Bakken pay at 10,074 ft.