1 Ivanhoe Energy (USA) Inc., Vancouver, has started a steam-injection program to improve heavy-oil production from wells it operates in the area of 11n-23w in Midway-Sunset Field in Kern County, Calif. The company has treated 14 of the 22 wells it operates in the field, more than three miles southeast of Maricopa, and increased its overall production rate nearly 100%. Ivanhoe anticipates similar improvements as it treats additional wells in the field. The company is seeking $5 million to finance a 20-well drilling and steam-injection program on undeveloped parts of South Midway-Sunset this spring. 2 Westwood Petroleum LLC, Reno, is drilling the #1 Dalton wildcat to a projected depth of 3,000 ft. in Section 4-34n-62e, Elko County, nearly 18 miles south of Wells, Nev. The vertical remote wildcat is almost 63 miles northeast of an unnamed field producing from volcanics, according to IHS Energy. 3 Dallas independent Lyco Energy Corp. has a horizontal Bakken drilling program in the works in the Williston Basin, approximately 22 miles southwest of Culbertson in Richland County, Mont., says IHS Energy. Planned for drilling are wells in Section 19-25n-54e, projected to 18,721 ft. total depth; Section 29-25n-54e, projected to 18,220 ft.; Section 22-25n-53e, projected to 13,808 ft., and Section 12-24n-54e, projected to 18,621 ft. Sites in sections 19, 29 and 22 are one to three miles east, southeast and southwest, respectively, of the company's Charlie Creek discovery, which was completed in 1997 for 70 bbl. of oil, 20,000 cu. ft. of gas and 10 bbl. of water per day from Bakken. 4 Lyco Energy Corp. has also completed a horizontal Bakken exploratory well about 12 miles west-northwest of Sidney for 205 bbl. of oil on pump, 111,000 cu. ft. of gas and 29 bbl. of water per day. The #4-4-H Bullwinkle-Sawyer lies within Section 4-23n-57e in eastern Richland County, with a southerly bottomhole location. Lyco completed the well between 11,101 ft. and 13,951 ft. in Bakken with total measured depth of 14,187 ft. and true vertical depth of 10,496 ft. It reaches a stratigraphic trap producing by fluid expansion. The well is a mile west of the company's #3-4-Bullwinkle-4J Ranch, completed a year earlier for 276 bbl. of oil, 123,000 cu. ft. of gas and 40 bbl. of water a day, says IHS Energy. 5 The North Dakota Industrial Commission has granted a permit to Grant Geophysical Corp., Houston, to carry out a 3-D seismic survey south of Williston, N.D., over Baker, Indian Hill and Camp fields. Called the Baker 3-D project, it will cover six square miles in townships 152n-101w and 153n-101w, in northwestern McKenzie County. Baker Field has produced 1.31 million bbl. of oil, nearly 3 billion cu. ft. of gas and 594,000 bbl. of water from Madison, Duperow and Red River since it was opened in 1982. Nance Petroleum Corp., Billings, Mont., recently staked a stepout from the field in Section 4-153n-101w, called the #2-4 Lewis & Clark. 6 Anschutz Exploration Corp., Denver, tested its #1-28D Mesa, on the Pinedale Anticline in southwestern Wyoming, for an initial flow rate of 17.8 million cu. ft. of gas, one bbl. of condensate and eight bbl. of water per day through a 26/64-in. choke with a casing pressure of 4,700 psi, according to IHS Energy. The well, about 10 miles south of Pinedale in Section 28-32n-109w in Sublette County, produces from 20 fractured Lance zones between 8,616 ft. and 13,800 ft. Anschutz cased the well to a measured depth of 13,917 ft. (true vertical depth 13,835 ft.). The company's #4-27 Mesa, 0.25-mile east, tested 9.4 million cu. ft of gas, eight bbl. of condensate and 13 bbl. of water per day through a 20/64-in. choke from 19 fractured Lance zones. 7 Nearby Jonah Field, in Sublette County, Wyo., is attracting a lot of attention, thanks to big wells and tailored frac treatments. EnCana Oil & Gas (USA) Inc., Calgary, is trying to move Cretaceous gas production seven miles west with its Palamino #5-22 wildcat in Section 22-29n-111w, scheduled to Mesaverde at 9,400 ft. Only one other well has been drilled in the township, a 1977 dry hole. Jonah produces primarily from upper Cretaceous Lance and Mesaverde. EnCana also is looking for new production eight miles south of Jonah, according to The Rocky Mountain Oil Journal, with the 9,135-ft. Sugar Loaf #11-36 in Section 36-27n-109w. The nearest well, now operated by EnCana, tested at 249,000 cu. ft of gas and 43 bbl. of water per day from Lance. Yates Petroleum Corp., Artesia, N.M., also has plans to drill a wildcat about 41 miles south-southeast of Pinedale, and southeast of Jonah Field. 8 Forest Oil Corp., Denver, has permitted two wildcats on the northern flank of the Washakie Basin, 16 to 18 miles south-southwest of Wamsutter, Wyo., in Sweetwater County, and has applied for a third permit. The #10-28 West Wild Rose, in Section 28-17n-95w, is projected to 12,172 ft. in the Almond member of the Mesaverde, and the #4-22 West Wild Rose, in Section 22-17n-95w, is projected to 12,000 ft. to the same objective. The operator also plans to drill the #10-24 West Wild Rose in Section 24-17n-95w, says IHS Energy. The wells are within five miles of the company's Wild Rose Field, where the #9-18 Wild Rose-Federal tested 5.8 million cu. ft. of gas, 198 bbl. of condensate and 40 bbl. of water per day from two intervals. 9 Trend Explorations LLC, Midland, Texas, set production casing to 8,870 ft. to complete a Minnelusa test in the Powder River Basin some six miles east-northeast of Recluse, Wyo. The #1 Jayne Harris West is in irregular Section 1-55n-73w in Campbell County, a mile northwest of Trend's Jazbo Field. 10 A Minnelusa exploration program is being planned in the Powder River Basin by Ballard Petroleum Holdings LLC, Billings, Mont. The firm has applied for a permit for the #22-11 DW-State in Section 11-50n-71w, Campbell County, Wyo. The location is some five miles east-northeast of Gillette and 1.5 miles northeast of Superhornet Field. Ballard also has applied for a permit for a 7,500-ft. Minnelusa test at its #22-21 Cundy in Section 21-53n-69w, about 1.5 miles from three existing Minnelusa fields. 11 BuRay LLC, Evansville, Ind., spudded the #1 BuRay-Bullseye-Federal some 30 miles northwest of Casper, Wyo., on the Casper Arch. It is drilling the well directionally from a surface location in Section 8-37n-83w southeast to a bottomhole location at 5,200 ft. in Tensleep in Section 17 of the same township. The Natrona County well is some four miles west of Lost Dome Field, a Tensleep pool that has produced 776,800 bbl. of oil since 1998. 12 Calgary-based EnCana Oil & Gas (USA) Inc. is drilling below 6,700 ft. on the way to a Rollins (Mesaverde) objective at 9,500 ft. at a wildcat 24 miles northwest of Parachute in the Piceance Basin. The #8011 Figure Four is in Section 14 4s-98w, Rio Blanco County, Colo., about two miles from an abandoned Fort Union gas discovery near Willow Creek Field. 13 Huntington Energy LLC, Oklahoma City, completed a wildcat 19 miles northwest of Dove Creek, near the Utah-Colorado border, as a gas discovery. The #6-12 Big Mac-Federal was completed in an undisclosed Mississippian zone in Section 5-43n-19w in San Miguel County, Colo., after being drilled to 10,108 ft. and plugged back to 9,985 ft. The well penetrated the top of the Elbert at 9,928 ft. 14 Monument Gas Marketing Inc., Monument, Colo., completed a Las Animas Arch discovery 14 miles southwest of Cheyenne Wells. The #1-24 Scheimer, in Section 24-16s-46w, Cheyenne County, Colo., flowed at a rate of 4.1 million cu. ft. a day through a 1/8-in. choke with flowing tubing pressure of 690 psi from Morrow perforations between 5,037-44 ft. 15 Five satellite fields around Alpine Field will be developed by ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc. on Alaska's North Slope. One or more of those satellites are in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A), immediately west of the field. The company has mentioned Nanuq (40 million bbl.) south, Fiord (50 million bbl.) north, and Spark, Moose's Tooth, Lookout and Rendezvous in the NPR-A. 16 Forest Oil Corp., Denver, has started producing oil from two of the four field wells at its Redoubt Shoal Field, in Alaska's Cook Inlet, at a rate of 4,200 bbl. per day. According to IHS Energy, the field has more than 100 million bbl. of recoverable oil. Current production is from the Hemlock, but Forest also plans to look at shallower gas production and deeper potential.