1 Marathon Oil Co., Houston, has scheduled its first Barracuda South prospect wildcat in DeSoto Canyon Block 927 in 8,499 ft. of water in the Gulf of Mexico. The company plans as many as four wells in the block. The blocks are about nine miles northwest of an exploration plan area filed by Anadarko Petroleum Corp., Houston, for Lloyd area blocks 5, 6, 49 and 50 where it plans to drill up to 18 wells in water 8,705 ft. to 8,941 ft. deep, according to IHS Energy. 2 Centurion Resources LLC received a permit to drill a remote wildcat in the northeast part of Tishomingo County, Miss. There is no production in that county. The #1 Leon Johnson 23-10 is scheduled to bottom at 1,500 ft. in Section 23-2s-10e, approximately six miles north-northeast of the nearest previous drilling. Only one other well in the county has encountered shows, a 798-ft. test some 17 miles south-southeast. 3 Casing has been set at a 2,987-ft. wildcat in central Choctaw County, Miss., by Hattiesburg operator Thomas A. Blanton. The county currently has no production, and this is only the fifth well that has been drilled. Blanton's #1 Billy J. Orr, in Section 1-17n-10e, reached a total depth of 3,000 ft. and is awaiting completion tools. The nearest production is more than 10 miles northeast in northwestern Oktibbeha County where Fina Oil & Minerals Co. completed the #1 Georgia Pacific in 1999 to establish Maben South Field. The field has produced 153.2 million cu. ft. of gas from Knox at 15,338 ft. to 15,830 ft. 4 Spooner Petroleum Co., Jackson, Miss., has permitted its #1 Weyerhaeuser 28-9 wildcat about 1.5 miles south of Vernon, Ala., in Section 28-15s-15w, Lamar County. The company plans to drill to 3,600 ft. Nearest drilling is an abandoned well a half-mile northwest, and nearest production is almost three miles east at the single-well Hell's Creek Field in Section 25. There, the discovery well produced a cumulative 1.1 billion cu. ft. of gas and 6,884 bbl. of water from Lewis perforations between 2,975 ft. and 3,011 ft., IHS Energy reports. 5 Savoy Energy LP, Traverse City, has asked Michigan authorities for a permit to drill the #1-34 Big 8 Land Co. wildcat in Section 34-30n-4e, Rust Township, Montmorency County. Although the well is in Antrim Field, the target is Prairie du Chien at 7,500 ft. The location is about eight miles south-southwest of the town of Hillman. The nearest Prairie du Chien production is two miles east-southeast at inactive Fletcher Pond West Field, where the field opener in Section 1-29n-4e produced 3.1 billion cu. ft. of gas and 127,062 bbl. of condensate before it was abandoned in 1996. 6 Traverse City operator West Bay Exploration Co. is seeking a permit to drill a 1,730-ft. Traverse lime wildcat some 3.5 miles north of the town of Martin. The #1-6-McAllister, in Section 6-2n-11w, Martin Township, in eastern Allegan County, is two miles north-northeast of the two-well Martin Field, which produced 2,200 bbl. of oil between 1948 and 1960. About three miles north-northeast, Wayland Field, also in the Traverse lime, has produced some 300,000 bbl. of oil since it was discovered in 1944. 7 Oelze Equipment Co. LLC, Nashville, Ill., plans two wildcats in the western Illinois Basin in southwestern Fayette County, Ill., a mile and a half northwest of Vernon. The #1 Brumfield and the #1 Veal, both in Section 32-5n-1e, will test the Trenton. The closest producers are in Patoka Field four miles south and a little east, which has produced almost 14.9 million bbl. of oil from Cypress, Benoist, Aux Vases, Spar Mountain, Geneva and Trenton at depths from 1,300 ft. to 4,000 ft., according the IHS Energy. Some wells in the 66-year-old field still produce at stripper rates. 8 Myron L. Ross, Hot Springs, Ark., has scheduled a wildcat to Geneva at 3,950 ft. in Section 4-3n-3e, Marion County, Ill. The #1 Broom is about 2.5 miles east of Alma, Ill., and nearly 3.5 miles southeast of Kinmundy Field, which produces from Benoist. 9 Vigo County, Ind., is scheduled for activity as four operators target shallow prospects. Three of those wildcats have been scheduled by Team Energy LLC of Bridgeport, Ill., all targeting Silurian at 2,300 ft. The company's FNR #1 F.L. Wilson Inc. is in Section 9-10n-9w, about 4.5 miles north of Farmersburg, Ind. The FNR #1 Phelps is in Section 30-11n-9w, almost five miles southwest of Spring Hill Field, which produces from Tully, and the FNR #1 Burnett is in Section 17-11n-9w, about three miles west of Spring Hill Field and five miles southwest of Terre Haute. Schofield Oil Co., Evansville, Ind., also plans a 2,300-ft. Silurian test at its #1-A Cutsinger Community in Section 31-10n-9w, more than 2.5 miles northwest of Farmersburg Field. In the same county, Mountain Petroleum Corp., Denver, Colo., is after a different target. It drilled a wildcat to the Seeleyville Coal at 550 ft. in Section 28-13n-10w. Results haven't been released. 10 Quicksilver Resources Inc., Forth Worth, has permitted 13 wildcats in a campaign seeking gas from the Ordovician at 1,050 ft. in Harrison County, Ind. The wells are in townships 4, 5 and 6s and ranges 3 and 4e. Production nearby all of the wells comes from New Albany formation fields, IHS Energy says. 11 Four wildcats have been permitted in central Kentucky's Adair County by Target Oil & Gas Inc. The Danville, Ky.-based operator is working in Section 8-I-53e, Dunnville Quad. All four of the wells-the #89, #90, #91 and #92 Richard Sanders-are scheduled to test Knox at 2,000 ft. The wells are more than 12 miles north of Russell Springs, Ky., and two to four miles north of Eunice Field, which produces from Knox. 12 Leo Copass, Tompkinsville, Ky., plans a 500-ft. Corniferous wildcat about 4.3 miles west of Tompkinsville in Monroe County, Ky. The #3 Leo Copass is in Section 20-C-45e, Gamaliel Quad. Nearest production is from the Hardin formation in Tompkinsville West Consolidated Field. 13 Dominion Exploration & Production Inc., Houston, has staked a 6,000-ft. wildcat in northeastern Pennsylvania about 10 miles northeast of Troy in Bradford County, according to IHS Energy. The company's #1 Long is in Ridgebury Township, Bentley Creek Quad. The well is an offset to Belden & Blake Corp.'s #1 Jelliff in Ridgebury Township, Bentley Creek Quad, which was drilled last year to 5,381 ft. The company has not released any details on the Oriskany well. The well also is about five miles northeast of the Brace Creek Field discovery, a non-commercial oil well completed in 1987. That well was drilled to 6,118 ft. but completed in Lock Haven shallower than 800 ft. 14 T&F Exploration LP, Pittsburgh, plans a wildcat in southwestern Pennsylvania about five miles northwest of Marianna. According to IHS Energy, the #1 Linn is in Amwell Township, Amity Quad, in southeastern Washington County and it is scheduled to 3,200 ft. The nearest production is from Tenmile Field three miles to the northeast. 15 Charleston, W.Va.-based Eastern American Energy Corp. has staked a 12,000-ft. Upper Cambrian Knox test about nine miles northeast of Clay in Clay County, W.Va. The #1 Butler is in Otter District, Ivydale Quad, in an area largely devoted to drilling for gas above 4,600 ft. One of the few deeper wells is the #1 Boggs, a 6,475-ft. discovery drilled in 1981 that was completed for 600,000 cu. ft. of gas per day from Devonian, Huntersville and Oriskany. 16 Anderson Oil Ltd., Houston, has permitted a 5,000-ft. Devonian wildcat about seven miles south of Wallins, Ky. The #8 Asher Land & Minerals Ltd. is in Section 25-D-73e, Wallins Creek Quad, in Bell County. 17 Penn Virginia Oil & Gas Corp., Radnor, Pa., has scheduled a remote wildcat about seven miles northeast of Clinchport in western Virginia. The company's #1 Cox, in Taylor District, East Stone Gas Quad, in western Scott County, is scheduled to 5,000 ft. in Corniferous. The nearest production is some 10 miles north in Roaring Fork Field, which produces from Weir, Big Lime and Berea. This well appears to be part of an exploration campaign Penn Virginia is waging in the area. It drilled a wildcat late last year just south of Roaring Fork-the #1 Greear-about three miles west of Dungannon, and it spudded the #1 McNeil last December, a wildcat a mile northwest of Dungannon. Both wells targeted Corniferous between 5,000 ft. and 5,875 ft., but no details have been released.