International Oil & Gas Inc. has announced it has entered into an agreement with Trans Energy Inc. of St. Marys, WV, and Jayhawk Resources LLC of Arlington, TX, to lease over 5,000 acres in West Virginia to test the Trenton and Black River formations.

The leases are about 50 miles south of two major discoveries made last year by Columbia Natural Resources at about 10,000 feet in the Trenton and Black River formations in Roane County, WV. The Columbia wells recorded open flow tests at about 50 MMcf/d with 6,600 psi. One of the wells was connected last year and flowed 7.4 MMcf/d.

The depth, pressure and production levels are extraordinary for the Appalachian Basin, according to Bill Woodburn, vice president of Trans Energy. “No one’s ever drilled that deep in this area. Six thousand feet is about as deep as they have gone before.” Woodburn is seeing a lot of activity in the area, however, since Columbia’s announcement of successful tests last October. He said he knew of three others exploring in the area, and Columbia, which has 2.1 million acres under lease, also is continuing its leasing and drilling program.

Trans Energy Inc. owns several oil and gas wells in West Virginia, along with more than 100 miles of three to six inch gathering lines in Ritchie, Tyler and Pleasants Counties. It also has leases in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming.

International Oil & Gas (www.inoil.com), based in Dallas, previously has focused on undervalued exploration and development properties in Texas, Tennessee, Nevada and Louisiana.

CNR has drilled approximately 10 wells within various counties in West Virginia to date. These wells have all been drilled to the Trenton and Black River formations in a structure known as the Rome Trough, which extends from New York through Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Kentucky.

The joint venture has already acquired the acreage and intends to begin shooting seismic immediately. It is expected that the seismic will locate an anomaly, which will result in a test well being drilled in the near future.

Ellen Beswick

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