Canadian Superior Energy Inc. said it made two natural gas discoveries at its East Ladyfern natural gas play in northwestern Alberta and is expecting a new field to be established in the remote area about 22 miles east-southeast of the main Ladyfern gas field and about 65 miles east of Fort St. John, BC.

The Ladyfern discovery kicked off a British Columbia drilling rush two years ago with several high-volume wells, but then wilted as the reserves declined rapidly. Several other companies, however, including EnCana, have made recent large discoveries in northeastern British Columbia near Ladyfern (see Daily GPI, March 31).

“In order for drilling to be conducted on this exciting prospect, approximately 32 miles of trails and roadways and several ice bridges had to be constructed as well as two major river crossings completed,” said Ed Pratt, Canadian Superior’s drilling manager. “This is a very remote area that is accessible only during winter months where we encountered extensive muskeg and we have had to put in place our own infrastructure including crew camp, air strip and medical services.”

Drilling operations were conducted safely throughout the winter during one of the shortest winter drilling seasons on record in Alberta. All further information on the wells is being kept confidential pending upcoming land sales and land negotiations on the area.

The two exploration wells were drilled to total depths of 9,393 feet and 9,515 feet. Canadian Superior has a 75% interest in both wells with an unnamed major oil and gas company participating for 25%.

Canadian Superior said that after the original Ladyfern discovery by Murphy Oil and Apache it made a decision to concentrate on the acquisition of acreage “updip” and east of Ladyfern where very little seismic data had been shot by the industry because of the remote location. The company has acquired extensive acreage in the area (see Daily GPI, March 12).

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