Ultra Petroleum commenced in-fill drilling last week in theJonah Field, located in the Green River Basin of Wyoming. It gotthe go-ahead to start drilling on June 8 when the Bureau of LandManagement released an order for 22 new well locations, whichshould keep Ultra busy through 2001.

“Our drilling program will result in explosive growth inproduction, cash flow and earnings over the coming quarters,”stated Ultra Chairman Michael D. Watford.

Ultra now is awaiting the Bureau of Land Management’s record ofdecision regarding drilling on the Pinedale Anticline, located justnorth of Jonah Field. A favorable ruling would allow the drillingof multiple well locations. The Pinedale Anticline is thought tohave a probable exploration of 1 Tcf.

“That will ultimately give us potentially 700 well locations andit will offer full field development of the Pinedale Anticline,”said David Russell, spokesman for Ultra. The record of decision isexpected to come down sometime later this month.

Ultra released statistics late last month that showed provedreserves in the Jonah field went up 67% in 1999 from 75 Bcfe to 125Bcfe as a result of the down spacing order approved by the state ofWyoming and the Bureau of Land Management. Since June 1999, Ultra’sproved reserves skyrocketed from 44 Bcfe to 125 Bcfe. In additionthe company has 125 Bcfe of low-risk probable reserves resulting ina total of 250 Bcfe.

Alex Steis

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