1 South Texas recently saw successful drilling involving an exploratory well in Duval County and high-volume development gas wells in Brooks and Starr counties, reports IHS Energy Group. The exploratory well is Dallas independent Camden Resources Inc.'s #1 Huber 569, BS&F #569 survey, A-148, Duval County, Texas, completed for a gauge of 2.765 million cu. ft. of gas and 26 bbl. of condensate per day. It was tested on a 10/64-in. choke through perforations between 10,171-10,448 ft. in Eocene Wilcox. One of the development wells, the El Paso Production Oil & Gas Co. #3 Santa Fe Ranch in Brooks County's Tom East Field, flowed 60.244 million cu. ft. of gas at completion. El Paso, based in Houston, used a 45/64-in. choke to test through perforations between 13,856-13,990 and 14,020-14,172 ft. in Oligocene Vicksburg. The well, in Juan Jose Balli Survey, A-45, is the company's third high-volume Vicksburg gas well completed in the field. In Starr County, the Houston firm of Thorp Petroleum Corp. finaled a well in Samano Field flowing 13.166 million cu. ft. of gas, 332 bbl. of condensate and 11 bbl. of water per day on a 24/64-in. choke through perforations between 7,553-7,614 ft. The #4 Fausto Salinas is in Antonio Villareal Survey, A-279. On the same lease, Thorp has set pipe at 9,500 ft. at the 9,506-ft. #6 test and is drilling the #5, projected to 10,000 ft. 2 The #2 Hilbrich-Sellers is a Karnes County, Texas, Wilcox discovery completed by Dan A. Hughes Co. flowing 1.657 million cu. ft. of gas and 15 bbl. of condensate per day. The Beeville, Texas, independent drilled the well in Ramon Musquiz Survey, A-8. A 14/64-in. choke was used to test through perforations at 11,904-11 ft. 3 A deep drilling program being carried out by Pure Resources LP in Jackson County, Texas, has yielded an 11,675-ft. discovery completed flowing 1.628 million cu. ft. of gas, 114 bbl. of condensate and 337 bbl. of water daily. Eocene Yegua, perforated at 11,450-11,510 ft., is the producing zone at the #1 Rodgers in Leonardo Manso Survey, A-48. Houston-based Pure tested the well on a 10/64-in. choke. 4 A Wharton County, Texas, discovery completed by Dallas independent Headington Oil Co. LP yielded a flow of 13.935 million cu. ft. of gas, 307 bbl. of condensate and 423 bbl. of water per day, according to IHS Energy Group. Headington's well is the #1 Louise K. Hutchins in W.J. Wickman Survey, A-356. It was tested on a 24/64-in. choke through perforations between 11,792-12,468 ft. 5 Clayton Williams Energy Inc., Midland, has completed two high-volume Pinnacle Reef gas wells on its Lee Fazzino Unit lease in George Antonio Survey, A-31, Robertson County, Texas. The #1 well was finaled for 23.174 million cu. ft. of gas and 150 bbl. of condensate per day, while nearly a mile to the south, the #2 tested 10 million cu. ft. per day. The former was gauged on a 23/64-in. choke from 15,470-16,046 ft in Jurassic Cotton Valley. The latter was drilled to a total depth of 16,361 ft. and has pipe set at 14,613 ft. 6 Work accomplished by the The Meridian Resource & Exploration Co., Houston, near Louisiana's Ramos Field has rewarded the company with continued success, Meridian having gauged a new discovery flowing 1,584 bbl. of oil and 887,000 cu. ft. of gas per day. Located in irregular Section 78-16s-14e, Assumption Parish, the #1 Williams Land Co. was completed producing on a 12/64-in. choke through perforations at 14,928-73 ft. 7 Petrochem Operating Co., Minden, La., recorded a flow gauge of 1.9 million cu. ft. of gas, 10 bbl. of condensate and 480 bbl. of water per day from Cotton Valley at the 9,800-ft. #1 Lott 14, a discovery in Section 14-15n-11w, Bossier Parish, La. IHS Energy Group reports testing was done using a 24/64-in. choke. Perforations were made between 9,378-9,576 ft. About 0.5-mile west, the company is set to drill another 9,800-ft. test at the #1 Lott 15 in Section 15. 8 In the Gulf of Mexico, Spinnaker Exploration Co. LLC, Houston, made a discovery on Green Canyon Block 177, completing the wildcat #1 OCS-G-16702 flowing 14.6 million cu. ft. of gas and 1,700 bbl. of condensate per day from two zones. The well, known as the Sangria discovery, was drilled to a measured total depth of 12,288 ft. (12,215 ft. true vertical depth) in 1,487 ft. of water. IHS Energy Group notes productive S-1, L-1 and L-2 sands were encountered, with the latter two being the ones tested. 9 BHP Petroleum (GOM) Inc., Houston, has suspended an indicated discovery and plans to drill two wildcats in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. On Green Canyon Block 282, the company has suspended the indicated discovery #1 OCS-G-16727, where liner was run to a total depth of 15,393 ft. True vertical depth is 13,744 ft. in a fourth sidetrack. The drillsite is in 2,403 ft. of water. In the Atwater Valley area to the east, BHP has scheduled a wildcat in 6,192 ft. of water on Block 336, known as the Bass prospect. The drillsite is about 40 miles southeast the Gnome prospect on Atwater Valley Block 18, where the company recently abandoned the #1 OCS-G-16849 at a total depth of 28,665 ft. BHP's second scheduled wildcat is to be drilled in the southwestern portion of Walker Ridge Block 206. A part of the Cascade prospect, it lies in 8,178 ft. of water. 10 Another deepwater venture is the Kerr-McGee Oil & Gas Corp. #1 OCS-G-21826, where drilling is in progress in 8,010 ft. of water on Atwater Valley Block 37. IHS Energy Group notes the Oklahoma City firm's venture is about 25 miles southeast of <$iBP >'s Crazy Horse (Mississippi Canyon Block 778) Field, which has estimated reserves of 1 billion bbl. of oil equivalent and is the largest discovery made in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico to date. Kerr-McGee's test is also about 50 miles east of the Champlain discovery on Atwater Valley Block 63 that's being delineated by Agip Petroleum Co. Inc., Houston. 11 ExxonMobil Corp. is active below 22,690 ft. at the wildcat #1 OCS-G-21765 on Mississippi Canyon Block 509, known as the Hawks prospect. It's in 4,172 ft. of water, about eight miles northwest of the company's Timber Wolf prospect (Block 555) where the wildcat #1 OCS-G-21770 is to be temporarily abandoned at a total depth of 23,105 ft. Timber Wolf is in a water depth of 4,749 ft. 12 Oregano Field, owned by Shell Exploration & Production Co., has begun producing at a rate of 11,000 bbl. of oil per day from two wells. Oregano is on Garden Banks Block 559, in about 3,400 ft. of water. Development costs for the field are about $120 million, excluding lease costs. Peak production is expected to be 20,000 bbl. of oil per day, with total gross ultimate recovery estimated at 50 million bbl. of oil equivalent. 13 Newfield Exploration Co., Houston, says two exploratory wells it drilled offshore Louisiana are to be completed as producers. On Eugene Island Block 251, the #5 OCS-G-3331 encountered more than 120 net ft. of gas pay in two sands. Planning for the fabrication of a jacket and deck is under way with first production expected by the middle of this year. The well, an outpost to Eugene Island Block 238 Field in 155 ft. of water, sets up a separate location that will be drilled from the new production platform this year. Newfield is the operator of the development with a 57% working interest. West Cameron Block 294 is the site of the #5 OCS-G-4090 where Newfield found more than 100 ft. of pay. Casing is being run on the interval and drilling is to be resumed to test deeper objectives at the prospect, in 45 ft. of water in the West Cameron Block 294 Field area. Newfield, the operator and owner of an 85% working interest in the well, says another test may be drilled near the field this year. This is Newfield's first successful well in an emerging trend commonly called the "deep shelf." The company notes it recently increased its interest and became operator of the two successful wells drilled in the field in early 2001. 14 Jurassic Smackover was tapped for a flow of 2.73 million cu. ft. of gas and 490 bbl. of condensate per day by Bean Resources Inc. at the #1 Beard 29-7, a deeper-pool opener nearly 0.5-mile northwest of Maynor Creek Field in Wayne County, Miss. The Lafayette, La., firm's discovery, in Section 29-8n-7w, is producing through perforations between 17,900-18,100 ft. Testing was carried out using an 11/64-in. choke. Previously, the field produced oil and gas from Cretaceous Hosston and Jurassic Cotton Valley.