1 Samson Lone Star LP, Tulsa, Okla., received a permit to drill an 8,900-ft. wildcat in Shelby County, Texas, (RRC 6) about four miles southwest of Joaquin. The company's #1 Segler will be in the John Smith Survey, A-637. Although a dry hole was drilled in the same survey, the nearest production in the area is nearly two miles north-northeast in Joaquin West Field. That well produced 998.94 million cu. ft. of gas, 5,844 bbl. of condensate and 12,335 bbl. of water from Sligo perforations between 6,449-55 ft. between 1977 and 1984. Samson also has permitted the #1 Irish "B" well in the same survey and about 1.5 miles northeast of the #1 Segler. That well is scheduled to Travis Peak at 8,900 ft., according to IHS Energy. 2 About 1.5 miles east of the Nacogdoches County line in southwestern Shelby County, Texas, (RRC 6) Miller Energy Inc., Houston, has permitted the #1 A Hughes. The well is more than 10 miles west-southwest of the town of Center in the William Wisener Survey, A-778, at about the same surface location as Miller's #1 Hughes, which it junked and abandoned in November. The nearest production is about a mile northwest where the #1 Clay tested at 4.1 million cu. ft. of gas a day from Travis Peak. It produced 31.3 million cu. ft. of gas, 1,728 bbl. of condensate and 7,847 bbl. of water during 11 years online, according to IHS Energy. 3 The Westport Oil & Gas Co. LP unit of Kerr-McGee Corp., Oklahoma City, added another success to its program in Liberty County, Texas, (RRC 3) as its #1 Swilley discovery tested at 4.93 million cu. ft. of gas, 384 bbl. of condensate and 48 bbl. of water a day. Westport tested the well through a 12/64-in. choke with 8,415 psi of flowing tubing pressure from Cook Mountain perforations between 14,272 and 14,523 ft. The 15,759-ft. vertical depth well is in GC&SF RR Co. #17 Survey, A-456, about six miles northwest of Devers. The closest production from the similar depth is more than 2.75 miles east-southeast, where the #2 Henderson produced 7,788 bbl. of oil, 43.06 million cu. ft. of gas and 146 bbl. of condensate during nine months onstream. 4 Houston independent EOG Resources Inc. brought in a discovery with its #1 Ponderosa Ranch wildcat in eastern Matagorda County, Texas, (RRC 3) to reestablish production in Shepherd's Mott Field. The 17,000-ft. well, in Robert H. Williams Survey, A-105, tested at a rate of 6.65 million cu. ft. of gas, 641 bbl. of condensate and 60 bbl. of water a day from Frio perforations between 14,006-50 ft. through a 15/64-in. choke with 4,413 psi of flowing tubing pressure. The well, about 12 miles west of Bay City, was plugged back to 14,415 ft. The Shepherd's Mott Field opener produced more than 1.1 billion cu. ft. of gas and 3,453 bbl. of condensate between its discovery in 1962 and abandonment in 1966. 5 Dominion Exploration & Production, Houston, has scheduled its 6,700-ft. #1 Callcott wildcat in the southwest corner of Kerr County, Texas (RRC 1). About 100 wells have been drilled in the county, and only one of those was a commercial success. The well will be drilled in Section 1592, CCSD&RGNG RR Co. Survey, A-1875, about two miles northwest of a test abandoned earlier this year. That well, the #1 Langford, reached a total depth of 4,032 ft. The only commercial production in the county came from the #1 Robby Hurt, about 16 miles north. That well showed an initial potential of 20 bbl. of oil a day from Ellenberger between 3,720-30 ft. The 1982 well produced 78,852 bbl. of oil, 150,000 cu. ft. of casinghead gas and 152,538 bbl. of water through July 2004. 6 Atascosa County, Texas, (RRC 1) rewarded drilling efforts by Manti Operating Co., Corpus Christi, Texas, with two exploratory wells yielding a combined 452 bbl. of oil a day. The #3 Peeler, in Section 14, J. Poitevent Survey, A-1367, tested 243 bbl. of oil a day through a 12/64-in. choke from Wright Sand perforations between 5,252-57 ft. with 550 psi of flowing tubing pressure. Immediately southeast in the same section, the #5 Peeler tested at 209 bbl. of oil a day, also from the Wright Sand, from perforations between 4,888-91 ft. Manti's Wright Hook Field opener is about 0.33-mile north-northeast. 7 Denali Oil & Gas Management LLC, Houston, hit a discovery flowing 1.02 million cu. ft. of gas a day with 38 bbl. of water in southeastern Lavaca County, Texas (RRC 2). The company's #2 Henderson et al Gas Unit was tested on an 8/64-in. choke from fractured perforations between 17,309-28 ft. with 3,250 psi of flowing casing pressure. The well is in William Hardy Survey, A-19, about 20 miles southeast of Halletsville and more than two miles northwest of the Jackson County boundary. About a quarter-mile northeast, the company's #1 Henderson et al Gas Unit tested at 20.43 million cu. ft. of gas, 10 bbl. of condensate and 113 bbl. of water daily from three Wilcox zones. During five months online, that well has produced 1.5 billion cu. ft. of gas, 249 bbl. of condensate and 8,341 bbl. of water. Denali also has spudded the #3 Henderson et al Gas Unit northwest. 8 Houston independent Lyas Inc. has scheduled a wildcat to 10,000 ft. about 2.5 miles southeast of the Victoria city limits in central Victoria County, Texas (RRC 2). The company's #1 Girdy offsets the abandoned #1 F.D. Mitscherling, also in James Quinn Survey, A-282. The closest production from zones deeper than 7,000 ft. is more than 5.5 miles east-southeast, where the #2 Zac Lentz was completed for 143 bbl. of oil a day from Frio in Palo Alto Field. There is no production in the area from 10,000 ft. 9 Dominion Exploration & Production completed a workover inside the Zapata city limits in Zapata County, Texas, (RRC 4) for 4.92 million cu. ft. of gas and 97 bbl. of water a day. It tested the #2 Veleno Ranch in Joaquin Cuellar Survey, A-20, through a 14/64-in. choke with 4,499 psi of flowing casing pressure from perforations between 8,635-96 ft. The well originally produced gas from Wilcox between 9,758-88 ft., recovering 802.94 million cu. ft. of gas from that zone as part of Exsun Field. 10 Drilling plans call for Ballard Exploration Co. Inc., Houston, to drill a 6,500-ft. exploratory well about 10 miles northwest of Tacubaya in southwestern Brooks County, Texas (RRC 4). The company's #1 Brazil will be drilled in Rafael Garcia Survey, A-219. The well is about 2.75 miles north-northwest of the nearest drilling in the same survey, but that well was not commercial. 11 Pioneer Natural Resources, Dallas, filed an exploration plan to drill its Hellcat prospect in East Breaks 715 in the western Gulf of Mexico. Pioneer may drill up to three wells from separate locations on the western half of the block in 4,102-19 ft. of water. Pioneer's one-well Tomahawk field-formerly Harrier-is in East Breaks 759 immediately south. Pioneer completed that well in January 2004 flowing 118.75 million cu. ft. of gas and 410 bbl. of oil a day from Middle Miocene between 8,868 and 8,958 ft. That discovery produced more than 17 billion cu. ft. of gas, 44,315 bbl. of condensate and 8,067 bbl. of water in its first five months of production. 12 London-based major BP started production from its Holstein Field in Green Canyon 644 in 4,300 ft. of water from the largest truss spar platform in the world. The spar can produce more than 100,000 bbl. of oil and 90 million cu. ft. of gas a day. 13 Reaching for ultradeep waters in the Gulf of Mexico, BP also plans up to two wells to test its Cascade prospect in 7,165 ft. of water in Walker Ridge 249. One well was drilled and temporarily abandoned on Block 206, immediately northeast by BHP Billiton Petroleum (GOM) Inc. That company also temporarily abandoned a well 15 miles south at its Chinook prospect on Block 469 after drilling to a total depth of 27,652 ft. and setting liner to 27,030 ft. 14 Sklar Exploration Co. LLC, Shreveport, La., received a permit for a wildcat well to Cotton Valley at 6,600 ft. about 3.5 miles south of the Arkansas state line and near Sklar's Cecil Creek Field discovery in Union Parish, La. The company's #1 ExxonMobil Corp., in Section 25-23n-2e, is about 3.5 miles north-northeast of the town of Marion. 15 A southern Louisiana wildcat in Lake Pagie in Section 11-20s-14e, Terrebonne Parish, La., will give James A. Whitson Jr. a look at formations to 4,000 ft. The Houston independent plans to directionally drill the #1 LL&E to bottom under Section 10 to the west at a true vertical depth of 3,925 ft. The nearest production is about 1.75 miles north-northeast in Lake Pagie Field. There, the #1 LL&E "A" was completed in 1980 flowing gas from Miocene perforations below 9,600 ft. Another 1.5 miles east-southeast, the #1 Fina Oil Co. Fee in Section 6-20s-15e showed an initial potential of 335,000 cu. ft. of gas per day from a shallower Miocene zone between 2,991-95 ft.. 16 Snyder, Texas, independent Patterson Petroleum LP permitted a 13,000-ft. test to Lower Tuscaloosa in northwestern Wilkinson County, Miss. Patterson's #1 Stricker LT, in Section 5-2n-5w, is a southeast offset to an abandoned well. Slightly more than 0.33-mile north-northwest, the #2 Bessie Stricker has produced 27,434 bbl. of oil, 1.54 million cu. ft. of casinghead gas and 48,923 bbl. of water from Barksdale Sand perforations between 7,753-54 ft.