Mainland Resources Inc. reported positive results from its Burkley Phillips No. 1 Well in Jefferson County, MS, in the Buena Vista Haynesville Shale that suggest there is more adsorbed and free gas in place in the reservoir than previously thought.

An independent evaluation was performed across 60 feet of section, which encompassed a 21-foot cored interval in the wellbore, targeted so that all of the new core analyses could be incorporated. Free gas calculated for the section was more than 1.5 times previous estimates for the same interval. If the assessment is representative of the entire interval, the gas in place in the Burkley Phillips #1 well could exceed 500 Bcf/section, the company said.

Mainland said in February the initial shale gas analysis on the well demonstrated 331 Bcf of gas in place (290 Bcf of free gas) per 640-acre section. The new data includes adsorption isotherm measurements taken from three shale samples within the cored interval. The data suggests that adsorbed gas storage capacity is at least three times greater than volumes previously assumed when calculating gas in place, in turn suggesting that the shale’s at Buena Vista are capable of retaining more gas

“We are continuing with the in-depth analysis and are convinced that the Burkley Phillips #1 will show that we are looking at a significant gas reservoir here,” said Mainland CEO Mike Newport.

Newport became CEO last month following the resignation of then CEO Nick Atencio, who remains a technical consultant to the company. In January Atencio told NGI’s Shale Daily about the company’s activities in Mississippi targeting the Haynesville Shale.

“As you work eastward into Mississippi along the Haynesville trend you go deeper in section, and in the area that we’re drilling it may be unique, but we don’t think it’s unique…the Haynesville expands significantly…in both section and depth,” Atencio said at the time (see Shale Daily, Jan. 24).

The company and its working interest partners control more than 17,800 net acres or 28 sections on the Buena Vista prospect area on which the well was drilled to 22,000 feet and logged. A conventional core was secured just below 20,415 feet for analysis. Post merger, Mainland owns 92% of the 28 sections in the Buena Vista prospect.