Delano

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again could be Tri-Valley Corp.’s motto when referring to its Sunrise Natural Gas Project near Delano, CA. The Bakersfield, CA-based company reported Thursday that it has logged in excess of 2,000 feet of gas-saturated diatomite/porcelanite in its Sunrise-Mayel No. 2HR horizontal redrill. Tri-Valley said the well has all the log and geologic features expected and is scheduled for hydraulic fracturing in late June to liberate the natural gas at what Tri-Valley management expects to be commercial rates. The latest move comes as the third attempt by Tri-Valley to unlock what independent engineers have projected as a potentially immense amount of natural gas in place in the tight McClure Shale formation beginning at about 5,800 feet. The company noted that Independent reports on the nearly 300 vertical net feet of pay in the McClure Shale section show 40% porosity with 70% gas saturation, which calculates to about 80 Bcf of gas in place per 160 acres. On its own, Tri-Valley has mapped some 6,600 acres of closure on its leasehold and speculates as much as 3.3 Tcf of gas may be contained in the prospect area. In March, the company failed to produce at commercial rates at its Sunrise-Mayel No. 2H natural gas well because the zone had clay content that could swell and block gas delivery (see Daily GPI, March 7). The company notes there is still risk of commerciality and will give no estimate of how much might be recoverable until it has completed and tested the rate of gas deliverability from the well.