Spudded

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.

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.

Denver, CO-based Westport Resources Corp. said late last week that the company spudded eight natural gas exploration wells and 59 development wells during the third quarter. The company also reported that it has hedged approximately 60% and 40% of its estimated oil and gas production, respectively, from its proved developed producing reserves for 2002. Westport said its oil and gas hedges are predominantly collars with average floor prices of $22.26 per barrel and $3.10 per MMBtu respectively.

Mobil said the Santa Fe Galaxy II jackup drilling rig hasspudded its first production well at the Sable Offshore EnergyProject (SOEP). The Galaxy II joins the Rowan Gorilla II rig, whichhas been drilling in the area since June. Construction on the $1.3billion SOEP (Mobil share 50.8%), which began in January, is nowwell over one-third completed and on schedule to deliver gas tomarket by November 1999.