Marathon Oil Co. and partner EnCana Corp. announced Tuesday they have discovered a new wildcat natural gas well (Annapolis G-24) in deep waters about 215 miles south of Halifax offshore Nova Scotia. The well encountered about 100 feet of net gas pay over several zones that have the potential to flow, they said. It will be temporarily abandoned to allow for re-entry at a later time.

“The discovery of gas is an important first step in the developing deepwater play offshore Nova Scotia. While the results of the Annapolis well are promising, further activities will be required to determine the commerciality of the discovery,” said Phil Behrman, Marathon’s senior vice president of Worldwide Exploration. Marathon and its partners are developing plans for further seismic and drilling in 2003, he noted.

“…[T]his discovery of gas is an essential step in determining the commercial potential of the deepwater Nova Scotia basin,” said Gerry Macey, president of Offshore & New Ventures Exploration for EnCana. “The G-24 well has confirmed the presence of reservoirs and hydrocarbons. It is a very encouraging beginning for our deepwater acreage.”

This marks the second well drilled on the Annapolis Prospect. The first well (B-24) was suspended and plugged following a well-control incident last March caused by an influx of gas at a well depth of 11,469 feet.

Marathon holds a 30% interest in the Annapolis prospect and is operator. Other partners include EnCana (26%), Norsk Hydro Canada Oil and Gas Inc. (25%) and Murphy Oil Co. Ltd. (19%). Marathon also is operator of the adjoining Empire and Cortland leases, holding 50% and 75% interests, respectively. Marathon said it has identified 10 prospects in this trend on the three leases.

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