1 Mariner Energy Inc., Houston, scheduled its first Rincon prospect test at the #1-OCS-G-26205 in 2,270 ft. of water in Viosca Knoll 992 in the Gulf of Mexico. There has been no previous drilling on the block. The initial plan of exploration calls for two wildcats on the eastern half of the block. It added a third location in a supplemental plan. The closest production is nearly five miles southwest at the Pompanyo I Field in Mississippi Canyon 29, where BP's single producer has flowed 2.24 million bbl. of oil, 4.14 billion cu. ft. of gas and 2.23 million bbl. of water from Upper Miocene from January 2002 to May 2005. 2 Pontotoc County, Miss., will host a wildcat planned by Ridgeland, Miss.-based Moon-Hines-Tigrett Operating Co. The company will drill its #1 Taylor "18-9" to 2,500 ft. in Section 18-11s-4e, some 3.25 miles north of the Chickasaw County boundary line. The nearest production to the proposed well is almost two miles southeast in Troy Field. There, the #1 B.Flaherty "29-2" tested at 152.1 million cu. ft. of gas and 5,475 bbl. of water a day from Lewis perforations between 2,373 and 3,285 ft. Through August 2005, the field produced 14.59 billion cu. ft. of gas, 957.59 million bbl. of oil and condensate and 40,348 bbl. of water. 3 S. Lavon Evans Jr., Laurel, Miss., continued its work in northern Alabama as it started drilling a 10,000-ft. Ordovician wildcat in northeastern Pickens County. The #1 Koon "21-2" in Section 21-19s-13w is more than five miles east of the town of Reform and 3.33 miles west of the Tuscaloosa County boundary. There is no comparable production in the area, but the company is conducting a Cambrian/Ordovician exploration program about 30 miles east-northeast in the Blue Creek Coal Degasification Field area in northern Tuscaloosa County. The deepest probable production anywhere near the #1 Koon "21-2" is the #1 Gulf States "29-11," which was drilled to 5,267 ft. in Lewis, was production-tested, had casing set to 5,260 ft. and shut in, according to IHS Energy. 4 A 4,145-ft. wildcat will evaluate Niagaran for Jordan Development Co. LLC, Traverse City, Mich. The company will drill its #2-26 HD Milarch from a surface location in Section 26-24n-16w, Arcadia Township, in Manistee County, Mich. The well will bottom in adjoining Section 25. The proposed well is 4.2 miles northwest of Bear Lake, Mich., and four miles northwest of Antrim Field, which produces from the Antrim Shale. 5 Bigard & Huggard Drilling, Mount Pleasant, Mich., will drill the #1-15A Fox to look for oil and gas in Niagaran to 6,500 ft. at a wildcat in Wexford County, Mich. The directional test is in Section 15-24n-12w in Wexford township and will bottom in the same section. The closest production from Niagaran comes from Wexford Field 1.3 miles northwest. The town of Buckley is four miles northeast. 6 Kapp Co. LLC will look for oil at a wildcat well in Fayette County, Ill. The Clay City, Ill., operator plans to drill to Silurian at 4,000 ft. in its #1 JM Martin in Section 35-7n-3e. The new well is more than 1.25 miles southeast of St. Elmo, Ill. Nearest production comes from the Cypress formation in Louden Field, 3.1 miles north, said IHS Energy. 7 A wildcat on the western edge of the Indiana-Ohio Platform will take a look at potential pay from Trenton for West Bay Exploration Co., Traverse City, Mich. The #1-6 McKillip is in Section 6-27n-6e in eastern Wabash County, Ind. It will be drilled to 1,200 ft. Approximately two miles southwest, Rich Valley Field started producing in 1970 and produced 18,000 bbl. of oil during the next 18 years. All 11 wells produced from the Trenton Formation at about 900 ft. The only other production in Wabash County comes from Urbana Field between six and eight miles northeast. Also a Trenton pool, that field was discovered in 1966 and abandoned in 1992 after it had produced some 380,000 bbl. of oil. The #1 W-B well was drilled to 1,076 ft. a half-mile northeast. It found oil shows in the Trenton formation but the well was not tested for production. That well found the top of the Trenton at 1,042 ft. The well is 5.5 miles west of Wabash, Ind. 8 Gallagher Drilling Inc., Evansville, Ind., will try a 1,500-ft. test a miles south of Petersburg in northern Pike County, Ind. The company's #1 Stonecipher is scheduled to drill to McClosky in Section 35-1n-8w, according to IHS Energy. The wildcat is 2.5 miles southwest of the closest earlier production in Alford Field, which produced from multiple plays after its discovery in the middle 1920s. The operator abandoned the well in 1987 after producing some 361,000 bbl. of oil. The nearest remaining active oil production comes from Union-Bowman Consolidated Field, discovered in 1941. The nearest producing well in that field is 2.6 miles west of the Gallagher wildcat. The field has produced 30.2 million bbl. of oil from Pennsylvanian and 10 Mississippian zones from Hardinsburg to Harrodsburg. The latest available production data showed the field produced 7,450 bbl. of oil during August 2005. 9 A Medina formation wildcat will drill to a projected 2,605 ft. for US Energy Development Corp., Getzville, N.Y. The company will drill its #1A Chiavetta in search of natural gas in Section A, Gowanda Quad, Perrysburg Township, about 2.4 miles north of Perrysburg in Cattaraugus County, N.Y. The closest production to the wildcat is 1.6 miles northeast in an unnamed field. 10 Atlas Resources Inc., Jackson Center, Pa., one of the more active drilling companies in the Appalachia, plans three wildcat wells in different areas of Crawford County, Pa. It scheduled the #1 Lance to test Devonian at 4,650 ft. in Section F, Harmonsburg Quad, Hayfield Township. That well is 4.9 miles northeast of Conneaut Lakeshore, Pa., and 1.2 miles south of Conneaut Field, a Medina producer. The second well is the #10 Hunter, also a Devonian test. It will drill to 5,250 ft. in Section H, Townville Quad, Randolph Township, about 4.5 miles west of Townville, Pa. The closest production is from Cambridge Springs (Medina sand) Field 1.7 miles north. The #2 Rawson, third wildcat on the roster, will evaluate Queenston at 4,520 ft. That well is in Section C of Conneaut Lake Quad, Sadsbury Township. That well is 2.4 miles east of Conneaut Lake, Pa., and 1.4 miles south Conneaut Lake Field, a Queenston producer. 11 Three wildcats will test Devonian zones in Marienville West Quad in Forest County, Pa., for Seneca Resources Corp. The Sigel, Pa., E&P company will drill its 37760 Warrant 5155 #22 to 2,375 ft. in Section C, Marienville West Quad, Kingsley Township, 15.8 miles east of Tionesta, Pa., and a mile south of Guitonville (Devonian) Field. The second wildcat is the 37761 Jordan Warrant 5157 #5, projected to 2,270 ft. in Section D of the same quad in Green Township. That well is 15.9 miles east of Tionest and 1.1 miles north Marienville (Upper Devonian) Field. The third wildcat is the 37762 Jordan Warrant 5157 #6. That well is planned to 2,315 ft., also in Section D of the same quad and township as the previous well. It is 15.6 miles east of Tionesta and 1.1 miles south of Guitonville Field. 12 Energy Search Inc., Marietta, Ohio, has staked the #1A New Gauley Coal Corp. wildcat to Weir sand at 4,000 ft. in Nicholas County, W.Va. The well is in Kentucky District, Craigsville Quad, on a 90.08-acre lease three miles south of the town of Craigsville. The closest production is five miles northeast in an unnamed Big Lime field. 13 Two wildcats are in the works for Mercer County, W.Va., by Dominion Exploration & Production Inc., Houston. One of the Dominion wells is the #14396 Depi, a 6,400-ft. test to Devonian shale in Jumping Branch District, Flat Top Quad, almost 8.5 miles northwest of Athens, W.Va., and 3.4 miles east of an unnamed field that produces from Blue Monday. The other Dominion well is the #14397 Ray O. Mills, aimed at Devonian at 5,900 ft., also in Jumping Branch District but in Athens Quad, some 8.1 miles northwest of Athens and 2.1 miles east of a unnamed field that produces from Lower Maxton. 14 Four wildcats, three by Endeavor Resources LLP, Midland, Texas, are set in Breckinridge County, Ky., all projected to New Albany shale at 1,999 ft. The company's #1 Howard Hendrick et al. is in Section 1-O-36e in Glen Dean Quad ,4.5 miles southwest of Hardinsburg, Ky., and 1.8 miles south of an unnamed New Albany Field. The company's #1 James Miller Sr., in Section 4-O-37e, Kingswood Quad, is 2.5 miles southwest of Hardinsburg and 2.4 miles southeast of the unnamed field. Endeavor's #1 Keenan O'Connell is in Section 17-P-37e in Hardinsburg Quad, 1.7 miles west of Hardinsburg and 1.6 miles east of the unnamed field. Meanwhile, Heman Nike Asaph Corp., Hawesville, Ky., plans to drill the #1 William H. Jr. & Rose Husband wildcat to McClosy at 1,000 ft. in Section 25-N-36e in Falls of Rough Quad, 1.7 miles north of the Falls of Rough CN (Devonian) Field and 9.9 miles southeast of Fordsville, Ky. 15 Dart Oil & Gas, Mason, Mich., will drill the #42701 Sherman et al., a new field wildcat, to 4,500 ft. in search of Devonian Gas in Tazewell County, Va. It will drill the well in Clearfork District, Anawalt Quad, nearly two miles southeast of Pocahontas, Va. The closest production is from Ashland Field 2.7 miles north. That field produces from Weir.