Houston-based Gastar Exploration Ltd. reported completing its best producing well to date, the Belin #1, in two lower zones of the Deep Bossier play in East Texas, at an initial production (IP) rate of 41.2 MMcf/d.

The well, in which Gastar has a 52% stake, is on a 20/64th-inch choke with about 10,300 pounds/square inch of flowing casing pressure. The well was completed in November to a total depth of 18,800 feet, and it logged about 150 feet net of pay in the middle and lower Bossier formations.

“The Belin #1 is our best producer to date, and based on the high quality of the reservoir rock and the strong IP rate, we expect it will also be our best well to date in the Hilltop area in terms of estimated recoverable reserves,” CEO J. Russell Porter said Monday. “To put this well into perspective, our biggest producer prior to the Belin #1 was the Wildman #3, which IP’d at 23 MMcf/d. Comparing it against the entire play, we believe the Belin #1 is among the top 10 best wells reported by any producer in any area of the Bossier.”

The Belin #1 well contains three pay zones within the lower Bossier formation that, based on a log analysis, had the highest measured porosity — up to 25% — of any wells drilled by Gastar in the play. The well also encountered two middle Bossier sands, including the Lanier Sand, in a down-dip location in a new fault block with indicated pay based on log analysis.

The Belin #1 well “contains the highest porosity rock we have drilled to date, and we believe there is high-quality reservoir rock uphole from our initial lower completions that could allow us to maintain strong flow rates well into the future,” Porter said.

Gastar’s five most recent Bossier completions have had average IP rates of 15 MMcf/d and average gross estimated ultimate recoverable (EUR) reserves of 8.3 Bcf. Its two best Deep Bossier wells to date are the Wildman Trust #3, whose IP rate in January 2008 was 23 MMcf/d gross from two zones and EUR reserves of 11.4 Bcf gross; and the Donelson #3, which in June 2008 had an IP rate of 20 MMcf/d gross from one zone and EUR reserves of 17.8 Bcf gross.

Gastar now is drilling a sidetrack to its Lone Oak Ranch (LOR) #7 well in the Bossier, which is expected to reach a total depth with the next two weeks. Gastar holds a 50% stake (37.5% net) in the well.

In addition to its Bossier activity, Gastar is pursuing the shallower reserve potential in the Knowles Limestone, which lies above the Bossier at a depth of about 14,000 feet. Gastar is testing horizontal drilling techniques and advanced fracture stimulation technology to develop the Knowles carbonate. Gastar’s best Knowles Limestone well to date is the LOR #3, drilled in late 2007, which had an IP rate of 9.4 MMcf/d gross and EUR of 3.4 Bcf of gross reserves using horizontal multi-stage completion.

Gastar in 2008 held around 33,000 gross acres (15,350 net) in the Deep Bossier play, concentrated in the Hilltop area of Leon and Robertson counties in Texas. Chesapeake Energy Corp. is a one-third working interest partner in Gastar’s East Texas acreage, and Chesapeake also holds around 16% of Gastar’s outstanding common shares.

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