1 The California Department of Conservation (DOC) paints a rosy picture of gas drilling in northern California, reporting a dramatic increase in notices to drill it has received so far this year. As of Aug. 31, DOC's Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources in Sacramento had issued 178 permits to drill new wells in Butte, Colusa, Contra Costa, Glenn, Solano, Sutter, Yolo, San Joaquin, Sacramento and Tehama counties, a pace not seen since the mid-1980s. 2 The Nevada Oil Reporter says Isern Oil Co. Inc., Gabbs, Nev., is drilling below 4,000 ft. at the #1-4 Gigante, a wildcat in Gabbs Valley, Nye County, Nev. The venture, in Section 4-12n-35e, is scheduled to go to a depth of 5,000 ft. 3 Wasatch Oil & Gas LLC, Farmington, Utah, recorded a flow of 1.083 million cu. ft. of gas and 44 bbl. of water per day on a 32/64-in. choke at a confirmation well, which is a one-mile northwest stepout from the opener of Nine Mile Canyon Field in Carbon County, Utah. IHS Energy Group reports Wasatch's #3-4 Hunt Ranch, Section 3-12s-15e, is producing from four North Horn (Tertiary Wasatch) intervals between 3,714-4,645 ft. The discovery-#2 Pickarel-Government-was completed in 1962 flowing 2.4 million cu. ft. of gas per day from Wasatch between 3,782-4,044 ft. 4 A workover in Montana's Bainville II Field was completed by Choctaw II Oil & Gas Ltd., Houston, as a Devonian Nisku discovery flowing 300 bbl. of oil and 50 bbl. of water per day. Choctaw's #1-2 Larsen Farms, in Section 2-27n-58e, Roosevelt County, was gauged on a 20/64-in. choke through perforations at 10,352-58 ft. Originally completed in 1986, the well produced from Ordovician Red River at 12,604-14 ft. Later, it was recompleted as a Silurian Upper Stonewall discovery at 12,190-12,200 ft. 5 Drilling is under way at a wildcat in Richland County, Mont.-the Armstrong Operating Inc. #24-1 Verschoot that's set up as an 11,400-ft. Red River test. The Dickinson, N.D., firm's project is in Section 24-23n-52e and about five miles north of the abandoned Lisk Creek Field opener that produced oil from Red River. 6 Completion details have been reported on Casper firm True Oil Co.'s #21-24 Evanson discovery in McKenzie County, N.D. The well flowed oil at a calculated rate of 500 bbl. per day, with 564,700 cu. ft. of gas daily, on a 24/64-in. choke from Mississippian Mission Canyon (Madison) at 9,407-9,558 ft. It's in Section 24-148n-101w. 7 North Dakota's Stark County appears to have a new horizontal Mississippian Madison discovery, the Westport Oil & Gas Co. #41-19 Hanson in Section 19-139n-99w where field reports say oil is being produced. The venture was drilled to an approximate measured total depth of 14,800 ft. Denver-based Westport is releasing no details. IHS Energy Group notes the #41-19 Hanson is the first wildcat drilled in a horizontal exploration program scheduled by Westport for six 640-acre drilling units comprising all of Sections 17-20, 29 and 30 of Township 139n-99w. 8 Ultra Petroleum, Houston, provides an update on its operations this year in the Green River Basin, stating that by early fall it had participated in the drilling of 24 new wells, continuing a 100% success rate in Wyoming over the last 49 wells. The new wells include eight in Jonah Field and 16 on the Pinedale Anticline, all in Sublette County. Ultra says of the 16 wells spread across the 90-square-mile Pindedale Anticline, four were drilled in the Warbonnet area on the south end of the anticline, three in the New Fork area in the central portion and nine in the Mesa area on the north end. Recent results in the New Fork area, in Section 3-31n-109w, include the #1-4 Pinedale that had initial production of 13 million cu. ft. of gas per day from 13 overpressured Upper Cretaceous Lance zones and the #7-3 New Fork that flowed a combined 13.8 million cu. ft. per day from three zones with 12 additional zones to be completed. Township 30n-108w in the Warbonnet area is credited with three new Lance producers. In Section 26, the #8-26 Warbonnet flowed 11.2 million cu. ft. of gas per day from 11 zones and the #1-26d Warbonnet tested 8.1 million cu. ft. per day from 12 zones. The third well, the #2-26d Warbonnet in Section 23, began producing 5.2 million cu. ft. per day into a sales line from 12 zones. 9 Elsewhere in Sublette County, Shell Oil is drilling toward a projected depth of 13,860 ft. in Upper Cretaceous Almond at the #B3-33 Pacific Creek Federal wildcat in Section 33-27n-103w. The Rocky Mountain Oil Journal notes the venture is on the eastern flank of an area of mutual interest (AMI) that was created when Shell purchased a majority interest in 110,000 acres in Sublette County from Grand Rapids, Mich.-based <$iWolverine Gas & Oil Inc. > In addition to Shell and Wolverine, <$iTexaco > will be a partner on the western flank of this AMI, having contributed 15,000 acres toward the package. 10 Questar Exploration & Production Co., Oklahoma City, is drilling below 9,600 ft. at a wildcat in Sweetwater County, Wyo., near Colorado. Questar's venture is the #1 Pectin Creek Unit in Section 8 of partial Township 12n-97w. Target depth is 12,100 ft. at the venture that's set up to test the gas potential of several formations through Cretaceous Mesaverde. 11 An indicated discovery drilled by Coastal Oil & Gas Corp., Houston, at the #8005 Figure Four Ranch in Rio Blanco County, Colo., has production casing set at 10,070 ft. According to IHS Energy Group, the prospect, in Section 18-4s-98w, was scheduled to test Cretaceous zones through Mancos "B" Sand. 12 New Mexico's Albuquerque-Belen Basin is to get a remote 9,100-ft. wildcat, scheduled to be drilled by Twining Drilling Corp. at the #3 NFT in Section 27-4n-1e, Socorro County. The test is to be drilled to evaluate the gas potential of the Tertiary Santa Fe Group. 13 Anadarko Petroleum Corp., Houston, has started the regulatory permit process for its Whiskey Gulch Prospect south of the Kuparuk River Unit on Alaska's North Slope. Drilling at Whiskey Gulch could take place in the winter of 2002-2003. IHS Energy Group reports Anadarko plans to drill two wildcats on the prospect-the Whiskey Gulch B in Section 22-9n-9e, Umiat Meridian, followed by the Whiskey Gulch A in Section 30-8n-9e. 14 Phillips Alaska Inc. is seeking to create the Cosmopolitan Unit in Alaska's Cook Inlet north of Anchor Point. The company has applied to the Alaska Department of Natural Resources' Division of Oil and Gas to form the unit, where a potentially oil-bearing reservoir in Hemlock would be the target. The unit would include nine leases-seven state and two federal-and be made up of approximately 24,600 acres-9,765 federal OCS acres and 14,835 state acres. The acreage is in Townships 3s-15w, 4s-15w and 4s-16w, Seward Meridian. Meanwhile, Aurora Gas LLC reports that gas sales have commenced from its Nicolai Creek Unit on the west side of Cook Inlet. Production at the #3 NCU well in Nicolai Creek Field initially exceeded 3 million cu. ft. per day and is increasing as the well continues to unload fluids used during workover operations.