1 Key Production Co. Inc., Denver, drilled a gas discovery with its #1-4 Lady Monarchs in Section 4-16n-1w in Colusa County, Calif. The wildcat tested at 1 million cu. ft. of gas a day from Forbes perforations between 5,894 and 6,238 ft. The directional discovery is 3,000 ft. north of a well in an unnamed field and four miles north-northeast of Colusa. 2 Aspen Exploration Corp., Denver, has chalked up 12 gas successes in 13 attempts at its drilling program in Yolo and Tehama counties in northern California. Among the latest successes, the Pope Bypass #1-5 in Section 5-6n-3e in Yolo County, 50 miles southwest of Sacramento, found 70 ft. of net gas pay in several Winters zones on its way to 7,800 ft. One two-ft. interval tested at 2.2 million cu. ft. of gas a day. The company also drilled three wells on its Sour Grass prospect in Tehama County. It tested two of the wells at 1 million cu. ft. of gas day each, while the third had non-commercial shows. 3 In a continuing wildcat program, St. Mary Land & Exploration Co., Denver, staked a second wildcat in the Uinta Basin in northeastern Utah, about seven miles southeast of Duchesne. The #1-24 Moon-KMV in Section 24-4s-4w in southeastern Duchesne County, will look for gas in the Mesaverde and Mancos formations. The nearest production is from shallower Green River in Duchesne Field about two miles northwest. St. Mary drilled and cased the first wildcat, its #1-28 Ute Tribal-KMV, 3.5 miles east in Section 28-4s-3w, also to 16,200 ft. St. Mary controls some 12,000 acres in the area. 4 Intrepid Oil & Gas LLC, Denver, will drill a wildcat about 12 miles west of Moab, Utah, on the northern flank of the Paradox Basin. The #2-1 Cane Creek is in Section 2-26s-19e in southern Grand County and is about 1.25 miles north-northeast of a Cane Creek formation discovery, the #11-1 Cane Creek, drilled last year by Aviara Energy Corp., Houston. That well tested at 1,100 bbl. of oil and 560,000 cu. ft. of gas a day from an openhole interval between 7,702 and 9,892 ft. measured depth. It was tested through a 14/64-in. choke with 2,900 psi of flowing tubing pressure. 5 A horizontal Bakken formation program in Richland County, Mont., is paying dividends for Headington Oil Co., Dallas, and other companies. Among recent Headington multilateral horizontal wells, the Vaira #24X-19 with surface and bottomhole locations in Section 19-24n-55e tested at 632 bbl. of oil, 270,000 cu. ft. of gas and 55 bbl. of water a day. The Gladowski #41X-18 in Section 18-24n-56e showed an initial potential of 416 bbl. of oil, 171,000 cu. ft. of gas and 44 bbl. of water a day, according to The Rocky Mountain Oil Journal. The Irigoin #24X-18 in Section 18-25n-54e tested at 416 bbl. of oil, 70,000 cu. ft. of gas and 46 bbl. of water a day. Other companies involved in the play include Lyco Energy, EOG Resources and Continental Resources. In addition, Burlington Resources Oil & Gas Co. LP plans four horizontal Bakken wildcats in undrilled township 24n-53e in Richland County. The wells are the #34-7 BR in Section 7, the #34-9H BR in Section 9, the #21-23H BR in Section 23 and the #24-11H BR in Section 11. All are scheduled to measured depths between 13,784 and 14,039 ft. and true vertical depths between 9,277 and 9,502 ft. 6 Thunder Hill Exploration LLC, Parker, Colo., has set up a 5,995-ft. remote wildcat on the northeastern flank of the Powder River Basin some 21 miles east of Broadus in Carter County, Mont. Objectives at the well in Section 7-5s-55e apparently include Muddy and Minnelusa. The closest Minnelusa production is 37 miles south-southwest in Rocky Point Field in Campbell County, Wyo. The closest Muddy production is from giant Bell Creek Field 18 miles south, according to IHS Energy. 7 FH Petroleum Corp., Billings, Mont., set production casing at 11,062 ft. at its #23-3 BR wildcat on the Billings Nose some 17 miles north-northeast of Sentinel Butte, N.D. The well is in Section 3-142n-103w in northern Golden Valley County, North Dakota. FH will drill the well to Red River at 12,800 ft. about 2.5 miles southwest of Beaver Creek Field, which produces oil from Madison, Duperow, Birdbear (Nisku), Stonewall and Red River. 8 Anadarko E&P Co. LP, Houston, plans a deep exploratory well to 20,600 ft. to test Madison at its #29-3 Greens Canyon in Section 29-19n-106w in Sweetwater County, Wyo. The well, about four miles west of Rock Springs, Wyo., is near Kestrel Energy's #29-2 Greens Canyon in the same section. That 15,720-ft. well, drilled in 2000, was completed for 1.2 million cu. ft. of gas and 96 bbl. of water a day from Muddy. 9 Denver-based Davis Petroleum Co. completed a wildcat discovery for 2.3 million cu. ft. of gas and six bbl. of oil a day from the Upper Cretaceous Almond/Rock Springs between 9,246 and 11,211 ft. The Red Lake Federal #1-3 is in Section 1-23n-98w in Sweetwater County, Wyo. According to The Rocky Mountain Oil Journal, Davis plans a north offset with its #36-13 Red Lake State in Section 36-24n-98w. 10 Coalbed-methane prospects are expanding in Wyoming. A recent development came from Patina Oil & Gas Corp., Denver, with a plan to develop three coalbed-methane pilot projects of five wells in the Pappy Draw area. The project area is in sections 4, 5 and 9 of township 26n-93w at Pappy Draw and sections 29 and 30 of township 27n-93w in North Pappy Draw in Sweetwater County. The new proposal is an expansion of the company's original plan for a single pilot project designed to evaluate methane quantities in the coal. 11 Gulf Exploration LLC, Oklahoma City, will drill a 3,500-ft wildcat on the Black Hills Uplift about 11 miles southwest of Edgemont in southwestern South Dakota. The #11-24 BHAD State, in Section 24-10s-1e in southwestern Fall River County, will look at Second Leo (Minnelusa) about three miles northeast of Alum Creek Field, which has produced 2.4 million bbl. of oil, 3.4 billion cu. ft. of gas and 4.2 million bbl. of water from Leo since it was discovered in 1981. 12 Western Gas Resources Inc., Denver, picked up its drilling permit for the #1-32 Mayflower, a 13,000-ft. wildcat in Section 32-9n-97w in Moffat County, Colo. The well, on the southern flank of the Sand Wash Basin about 40 miles northwest of Craig, will look at the Almond segment of the Mesaverde. There are no producing wells in the township, according to IHS Energy. The nearest Almond success was drilled last fall some seven miles east at Elm Ridge Resources Inc.'s #34-1 Tipperary-Nine Mile-Federal in Section 34-9n-96w. The Dallas operator's well flowed 2 million cu. ft. of gas and 100 bbl. of condensate a day. 13. EnCana Oil & Gas (USA) Inc., Calgary, plans a 9,100-ft. wildcat about 20 miles west-northwest of Debeque, in southwestern Garfield County, Colo. The #8406 SSPC, in Section 10-7s-100w, will go to Jurassic Morrison, but the primary objective probably is Lower Cretaceous Dakota sand, according to IHS Energy. EnCana's well is on the western flank of the Piceance Basin. Mesagar Field, about three miles west, has two Dakota gas wells. 14 Davis Petroleum Corp., Denver, has applied for a permit to drill a wildcat about eight miles northeast of Dove Creek in northwestern Dolores County, Colo. The company's #1 Sand Rock-Federal, on the southeastern flank of the Paradox Basin, will check Cutler and Hermosa formations on the way to 5,900 ft. in Section 27-42n-18w. The site is about 4.5 miles north-northeast of the Big Canyon Unit discovery well, the Continental Oil Co. #1 Big Canyon Unit, in Section 17-41n-18w, which tested at 361,000 cu. ft. of gas a day from an openhole Hermosa zone in 1962. The well has never produced. 15 Conoco Phillips Alaska spudded the first well with a native Alaskan company as a partner. Winstar Petroleum of Anchorage is a partner in the Oliktok Point State #1, which will be drilled from an onshore site in Section 9-13n-9e, Umiat Meridian, on the northern edge of Kuparuk River Field on the North Slope of Alaska to an offshore bottomhole location 1.5 miles north in Section 33-14n-9e. ConocoPhillips operates Kuparuk River Field. The companies designed the well so they could reenter the well and drill to another fault block if the initial borehole failed to find commercial hydrocarbons, according to Jim Weeks, Winstar president.