1 Shell Offshore Inc. has filed an exploration plan with the U.S. Minerals Management Service to drill as many as four exploratory wells in DeSoto Canyon Block 269 in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico. All will be in the southwestern corner of the block 7,492-7,543 ft. of water. Shell leased the block last year with a bid of $7.1 million, according to IHS Energy. The closest production comes from the TotalFinaElf Aconcagua discovery in Mississippi Canyon 305, some 10 miles west. Marathon filed exploration plans last year for its Raptor prospect in five contiguous blocks in the DeSoto Canyon area, about 15 miles south of the Shell exploration area. 2 Munoco Co., El Dorado, Ark., drilled a 3,500-ft. exploratory well about two miles north of Wilson Creek Field in Monroe County, Miss. The #1 J.C. West 12-5, in Section 12-14s-18w, is a south offset to another well permitted by the company and abandoned. Wilson Creek Field, which came onstream in 1991, has produced more than 2.3 billion cu. ft. of gas, 370 bbl. of condensate and 11,784 bbl. of water from Chandler, Millerella and Mississippian intervals. 3 Nine deep wildcats have been staked in southern Oktibbeha County, Miss., by TotalFinaElf Exploration & Production USA Inc. The wells, projected to 17,000 ft., are near the Winston and Noxubee county lines. All the locations are in 17n-14e, in sections 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 16 and 21, on a northwest-to-southeast trend. The nearest production is 10 miles northwest in Maben and Maben South fields, which in July 2002 produced a combined 712.8 million cu. ft. of gas from eight Knox wells. 4 Medallion Exploration Inc., Midvale, Utah, plans a remote wildcat about four miles west-northwest of Scooba, Miss. The #1 Weyerhauser 27-6 is scheduled to test the Knox formation at 10,500 ft. in Section 27-12n-17e in a lightly drilled part of the northeast corner of Kemper County. It and adjacent Noxubee and Sumter counties have no production and have hosted only 57 tests. Medallion drilled the #1 Sparkman 20-12 in 20-13n-19e in Noxubee County in late 2000 but abandoned the well at 9,100 ft., according to Southeastern Oil Review. 5 In northwestern Lamar County, Ala., Roundtree & Associates Inc. has set casing to 1,480 ft. at an exploratory test near the inactive Detroit West Field. The Jackson, Miss.-based operator drilled the #2 Northington 11-9 to an unreported total depth in Section 11-12s-16w. The well is a few feet northwest of the #1 Northington 11-9, drilled in 1987 and abandoned at 1,480 ft. The only producing well in the section was the #1 Roy Spruiell, about 0.75-mile west-northwest of #2 Northington. That test flowed gas at a rate of 231,000 cu. ft. per day from Carter between 1,355-70 ft. and was shut down in 1981 after recovering only 351,000 cu. ft. of gas in two months. 6 S. Lavon Evans Jr., Laurel, Miss., has tested 800,000 cu. ft. of gas and four bbl. of water per day at its #1 Alabama 28-1 discovery well, in Section 28-12s-13w, Marion County, Ala. Evans tested the 2,383-ft. well through an 18/64-in. choke with flowing tubing pressure of 400 psi from Lewis perforations from 2,336-43 ft. The discovery is a third-mile west-northwest of a well drilled in 1988 in Section 27 and tested 330,000 cu. ft. of gas from Lewis but was never brought onstream, according to IHS Energy. H&S Operating Co. has reentered that well as the #4 Elizabeth Thompson 27-4 and is testing. 7 Longleaf Energy Group Inc., Brewton, Ala., has a wildcat under way in lightly drilled southwestern Covington County, Ala., about five miles north of the Florida state line. The #1 Wise Trust 11-11 is drilling to Jurassic Norphlet at 13,000 ft. in Section 11-1n-14e. The nearest drilling was a well abandoned at 12,950 ft. in the same section in 1989. The nearest production is in the two-well Falco West Field, operated by Longleaf, 2.5 miles southwest. One 1989 well in the field has produced 422,895 bbl. of oil, 24.5 million cu. ft. of gas and 422,895 bbl. of water from Haynesville. The other well, drilled in 1990 by Longleaf, has produced 144,789 bbl. of oil, 6.2 million cu. ft. of gas and 569,447 bbl. of water, also from Haynesville. 8 Traverse City, Mich.-based operator Tiger Development LLC has staked a second exploratory well 16 miles southeast of Kalkaska, Mich., looking for Devonian production. The #3-14 Tiger & State-Garfield is proposed to test Amherstburg and Richfield formations to 5,110 ft. Tiger will drill directionally from a surface location in the southeast corner of Section 15-25n-6w to a bottomhole location in the southwest corner of Section 14 in the same township and range. The well is 0.75-mile southwest of Tiger's #1-14 Tiger & State-Garfield, which was completed in a 20-ft. Prairie du Chien interval below 10,706 ft. and is shut in, awaiting a pipeline connection. 9 Atlas Oil Co., Henderson, Ky., has permitted a wildcat in a nonproducing area of the northern Illinois Basin about 4.5 miles east-southeast of Neoga, Ill. The #1 Charles Starwalt is scheduled to a depth of 4,400 ft. to Silurian in Section 24-10n-7e, Cumberland County. The closest production is from the field opener for Roslyn West Field, four miles south-southwest, where a well in Section 10-9n-7e tested at 32 bbl. of oil and 47 bbl. of water a day on pump from Devonian Geneva. It produced 8,542 bbl. of oil before it was abandoned. 10 Lincoln Oil & Gas LLC, Monticello, Ill., permitted a wildcat about two miles east of Patoka, Ill., in northeastern Marion County. The #26-1 Nattier, in Section 26-4n-1e, will test formations through the Upper Ordovician Maquoketa to 3,999 ft. The test is about a mile east of Patoka East Field, which was discovered in 1941 and produced about 6.5 million bbl. of oil from zones in Cypress, Benoist, McClosky and Geneva at depths between 1,340 ft. and 2,950 ft. In September 2002, the field produced 72 bbl. per day of oil from eight wells. 11 In northeastern Marion County, Ill., Deep Rock Energy Corp. plans a shallower wildcat to Mississippian zones through Salem at 3,000 ft. at its #1 Nickels in Section 32-4n-4e. The well is a west offset to the Salem, Ill.-based company's third horizontal Geneva well, the #2-SDU Carter in the same section. The company hasn't released details on that well, but it did talk about its #1-SDU Warren horizontal well a mile northeast. That well, in Section 33 of the same township and range, was tested flowing 2,000 bbl. per day of oil from an openhole Geneva lateral from 4,879 ft. to 5,102 ft. That well has produced 388,000 bbl. of oil in its first six months online, peaking at 2,800 bbl. of oil a day. 12 Littlefish LLC, Mt. Vernon, Ill., has staked a wildcat to 3,500 ft. in Clay City Consolidated Field about two miles southwest of Fairfield. The #1 Terry Legg, in Section 15-2s-7e in south-central Wayne County, Ill., will test Mississippian intervals through McClosky. The field is the fourth largest in the state, with cumulative production of 373.5 million bbl. of oil since 1937. 13 Team Energy LLC, Bridgeport, Ill., has permitted three wildcat wells to 2,300 ft. to test Silurian in western Vigo County, Ind., south of Terre Haute. Two of the wells, the #1-FNR Burnett in Section 17-11n-9w and the #1-FNR Phelps in Section 30 of the same township, are near Spring Hill Field, which has produced 1.1 million bbl. of oil from Carper at 1,500 ft. and Devonian at 1,700 ft. 14 Pittsburgh-based T&F Exploration LP has staked two wildcats 3.5 miles northwest of Marianna, Pa., in southern Washington County. The #1 Elliott and the #1 Smith are both in Amwell Township, Amity Quad, within three miles north of Fonner Field, which produced Upper Devonian gas, according to IHS Energy. 15 A.W. Tipka Oil & Gas Co., Dover, Ohio, has permitted a wildcat to Precambrian at 11,000 ft. more than two miles north of Milton, W.Va. The company's #1 Carter-North Park in Grant District, Milton Quad, in eastern Cabell County, is less than a mile northwest of a 3,884-ft. Berea gas well drilled in 1940, but there is no drilling to comparable depths in the immediate area.