?1 Denali Oil & Gas, Houston, is completing its third well in South Escobas Wilcox Field in Zapata County, Texas. The #1 Los Mesquites was drilled to 15,800 ft. It’s east of #1 Violeta Ranch, a 15,500-ft. discovery drilled in March 2008 by Denali and placed on production in Hinnant 5 and Hinnant 7 sands. It produced 1.2 billion cu. ft. of gas in four months of production.?
A mile north of #1 Violeta, Denali completed #1 Trevino and placed it on production in July. That well flowed at an initial rate of 6.1 million cu. ft. per day from commingled Hinnant 5, 6 and 7. At present, Denali is drilling #2 Violeta Ranch and has permitted additional wells.

2 Petrohawk Energy Corp.’s #63 Elm Grove Plantation, its initial horizontal well in the Haynesville shale play in Bossier Parish, La., produced approximately 16.8 million cu. ft. of gas per day. According to the Houston-based company, the pilot hole encountered approximately 212 ft. of Haynesville. Drilled to 15,270 ft., with a 3,880-ft. lateral, Petrohawk treated 11 stages in its completion. Located in Section 9-16n-11w, the well is about 10 miles southeast of Bossier City, reports IHS Inc.

3?Odyssey Petroleum Corp., Vancouver, announced a completed Rodessa producer in Mississippi’s Pelahatchie Field. The #1 J. Cox 18-10 is in Section 18-5n-5e, in eastern Rankin County. It was swab-tested at rates up to 12 bbl. of oil per hour from about 10,140 ft. Odyssey, and its partner, Trans­Amer­ican Energy Inc., expect the well to pump at about 100 bbl. daily, based on three days of tests. The 11,500-ft. well encountered numerous potential productive zones, from Tus­caloosa at 7,000 ft. through Hosston at 11,000 ft.?This is the fourth successful well drilled in the field in the past nine months, and all have found multiple productive zones.

4 In state waters offshore Plaquemines Parish, Brigham Exploration Co., Austin, Texas, has production-tested a Louisiana discovery for 15.4 million cu. ft. of gas per day in the northwestern portion of Main Pass Block 66. Brigham says its #1 State Lease 18826 encountered about 100 ft. of apparent Miocene pay in four intervals, commingled between 7,140 ft. and 7,680 ft., with minimal pressure drawdown. Brigham anticipates initial rates of 15- to 20 million cu. ft. of gas daily. The well was drilled to 8,000 ft., with 75/8-in. pipe set on bottom. This is the first of six prospects in the operator’s South Louisiana joint venture with Clayton Williams Energy Inc.?

5 A Louisiana state waters well recompleted by Energy Partners Ltd., New Orleans, tested at the rate of 2,338 bbl. of crude, 267,000 cu. ft. of gas and 2,315 bbl. of water per day, according to IHS Inc. The Miocene producer is in Plaquemines Parish in the northwestern corner of South Pass Block 27. Testing was on an openhole interval at 8,752 to 9,494 ft. The 9,494-ft. well was originally completed as part of South Pass Block 27 Field in 1994.

6 Noble Energy Corp., Houston, has drilled a deepwater wildcat on Mississippi Canyon Block 561. The #2 OCS G19965 reached a total depth of 19,885 ft. in the southern portion of the tract in 6,340 ft. of water. A 117/8-in. liner was set to 17,100 ft.
Located in the Mississippi Canyon fan system of the Gulf of Mexico, this wildcat was the only activity outlined in a supplemental exploration plan filed earlier this year by Noble.

7 Australian firm BHP Billiton Ltd. and partners have announced that the Neptune development in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico has begun producing.?Neptune features a tension-leg platform (TLP) installed in 4,250 ft. of water on Green Canyon Block 613. Design capacity is 50,000 bbl. of oil and 50 million cu. ft. of gas per day.?The initial development includes six subsea wells tied back to the TLP. The field is in Atwater Valley blocks 573, 574, 575, 617 and 618, in 4,200 to 6,500 ft. of water. Crude oil from the field is transported via the Caesar pipeline. BHP Billiton’s partners are Marathon Oil Corp., Woodside Petroleum Ltd. and Maxus (U.S.) Exploration Co.

8 On the Tahiti West prospect, Eni U.S. Operating Co., the U.S. subsidiary of Italian firm Eni, is drilling a deepwater wildcat. It lies in the southeastern corner of Green Canyon Block 639 in 3,905 ft. of water. Eni’s block is next to Chevron Corp.’s two-tract Tahiti project in blocks 596 and 640. In 2007, Chevron announced it expects first production from 400- to 500-million-bbl. Tahiti by third-quarter 2009. Its facilities will be capable of making 125,000 bbl. of oil and 70 million cu. ft. of gas per day.

9 Houston-based Mariner Energy Inc. reports a deepwater Gulf of Mexico discovery in Garden Banks Block 462. Well #002S1B0 OCS was drilled to 23,156 ft. in 2,700 ft. of water. The field’s gross proved and probable reserves are estimated at 100 billion cu. ft. of gas equivalent. Initial production is expected by the end of 2008. Mariner operates the project and Apache Corp., also of Houston, is its partner. In November 2007, Mariner farmed into Geauxpher, providing the rig to test the prospect. The rig remains on location and a delineation well is planned.

10 Energy Production Corp., Dallas, completed a Tuscaloosa well in Louisiana’s Moore-Sams Field flowing 6.3 million cu. ft. of gas and five bbl. of oil per day. The #1 Joel DeVille et al. South, in irregular Section 41-5s-9e, Pointe Coupee Parish, was tested through perforations at 20,773-89 ft. on a 135/64-in. choke. Flowing and shut-in tubing pressures were, respectively, gauged at 10,900 and 12,588 psi. Total depth is 21,129 ft. The original hole was drilled to 19,881 ft. in 1980 and tested flowing 9.8 million cu. ft. of gas and 252 bbl. of condensate from Tuscaloosa at 18,555 to 18,950 ft. Onstream until 1992, the Moore-Sams Field well yielded 19.4 billion cu. ft. of gas, 527,935 bbl. of condensate and 2.35 million bbl. of water.

11 Houston-based Swift Energy Operating LLC is drilling at a 19,000-ft. wildcat in the Barataria Bay portion of South Louisiana’s central Plaquemines Parish. The #1 State Lease 18669 targets the Cristellaria I. The test, in Section 16-19s-25e, is a mile northeast of Saturday Island Field, which has produced 20 million barrels of oil and 62 billion cu. ft. of gas from Miocene since 1957.

12 Houston-based Stone­gate Production Co. has staked an Austin Chalk wildcat in Sabine Parish, La. The 10,500-ft. wildcat is nine miles north of Austin Chalk production in Burr Ferry North Field. Stonegate’s #1 Donner is in Section 14-4n-12w. It will be drilled to a bottomhole location 3,500 ft. northwest beneath Section 10.