It’s been a long time coming, but Double Eagle Petroleum has spudded a wildcat, Table Top Unit No. 1, in the Christmas Meadows prospect in Summit County, UT, at the intersection of the Overthrust Belt and the Unita Mountains in the corner of the Green River Basin play. The hold-up on going into what is believed to be a large anticline dome first spotted by Gulf Oil in the 1970s, has been getting a permit to drill in the environmentally sensitive area up against the High Unita Mountain Wilderness area. Others — Amoco and Chevron — staked it out and then moved on after years of waiting. Permitting for Double Eagle has involved dealing for more than 10 years with both the National Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. Double Eagle first acquired some leases in 1984 and has added to them, acquiring the last critical acreage in 2003. The company now has an interest in 41,237 gross acres, according to CEO Steve Hollis, who says they are estimating initial drilling time for the first well at about 100 days — or before Christmas. Double Eagle has a 25% working interest in the Christmas Meadows prospect. The first well is initially targeting the Frontier and Dakota formations, both combination oil and gas plays, at about 15,000 feet. “Once we know the structure is there, we can go deeper,” Hollis said. The deeper plays in the area of 20,000 feet likely would be all gas. Some estimates have put potential reserves at 2 Tcf.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the release last week of $79.9 million in energy assistance funds for 14 states as part of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) program, which helps eligible families in certain states pay for heating in the fall and winter months. The funds are targeted to states in which low-income households make greatest use of fuel oil to heat their homes. HHS previously released $600 million in assistance to states this past winter to address record high heating fuel costs. The additional funds released today result in a total of $3.1 billion made available under LIHEAP this year. American Gas Association President David Parker wrote to the president in July to urge him to release all remaining emergency LIHEAP funds because of high energy costs this year. “A cold winter, combined with higher home heating bills could force those who are the most vulnerable to make tough choices between heating their homes and paying their other bills,” Parker said. “It’s critical that Congress fund LIHEAP at a higher level so fewer families are forced into this untenable situation.” Almost five million low-income households across the country receive LIHEAP assistance each year. However, 33 million American households have incomes that make them eligible for the program.

In connection with its acquisitions of Kerr-McGee and Western Gas Resources in August, Anadarko Petroleum Corp. has hedged about 75% of the acquired oil and gas volumes through 2008, including hedges existing prior to the acquisitions. Anadarko announced its deal to acquire the companies in June (see NGI, June 26). As of Sept. 11, hedges in place totaled about 229,000 boe/d for the fourth quarter of 2006, 195,000 boe/d for 2007 and 169,000 boe/d for 2008. These hedges represent approximately 85%, 72% and 63% of the acquired oil and gas volumes, respectively. The acquired properties produced about 270,000 boe/d of oil and gas in the second quarter.

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