Cunningham Energy LLC, an independent oil and natural gas producer, said two of its shallow horizontal wells targeting the Big Injun Sandstone formation in West Virginia have collectively produced more than 26,000 bbl of oil, a company milestone.

The Charleston, WV-based company said the wells — Cochran #5H and Cochran #6Ha, both in Clay County, WV — may be the first shallow horizontal Big Injun wells to be completed in the state. The production totals gathered to reach the 26,000 bbl milestone were accrued over 11-month (#5H) and eight-month (#6Ha) spans, respectively.

“Cunningham Energy jumped into the Big Injun horizontal oil play and has been rewarded for its continuing development,” said President Ryan Cunningham. “We have made great strides in efficiency of drilling so far and expect that trend to strengthen in the coming year as the play matures…This and other shallow horizontal sand oil plays hold promise for the state of West Virginia and the Appalachian Basin as a whole.”

According to Cunningham’s website, the company is in the process of drilling horizontal oil and gas wells in West Virginia’s Clay and Kanawha counties, targeting the Weir, Berea and Gordon Stray sandstones and the Greenbrier Limestone (Big Lime). It expects to drill and complete 200,000 feet of total footage in 2015.

The company holds shallow leases in Clark County, IL, prospective to the Illinois Basin, where it has drilled an exploratory well. Ryan Cunningham is also listed as an investor in Invictus LLC, a company that announced plans to develop an ethane cracker and other downstream facilities in the Kanawha Valley in 2011 (see Shale Daily, Dec. 15, 2011).