The Burkley Phillips No 1 well will be drilled to a depth of 22,000ft. Based on data from the Chevron Long well drilled on this property in 1981, the company expects that this depth will allow it to test and complete in at least 2,500ft of Haynesville Shale.
This well will also allow the operator to test several shallower, potentially productive formations identified during the drilling of the Chevron well.
The Chevron well was an offset well drilled to 22,000ft with the objective being the Smackover and Cotton Valley formations. At the time of drilling, Chevron encountered an extremely high-pressure and thicker shale zone (22,000 psi) at 19,400ft. The data gathered from the well also indicated there were several shallower, potentially productive zones.
The Chevron well was then drilled over the next 2,600ft as a controlled blowout. Chevron did not reach the Smackover formation, and elected to plug and abandon the well due to the lack of technology required to complete in the shale in 1981 and certain casing problems uphole.
Mike Newport, president of Mainland Resources, said: “We are very encouraged to be drilling on the Buena Vista Prospect. A lot of skilled planning and hard work has brought us to this point where we can look forward to evaluating all the potentially productive zones, and, in particular, the high-pressured Haynesville Shale zone.”
Mainland and its working interest partners control in excess of 17,500 net acres on the prospect area, which has been confirmed with reprocessed seismic data. In the event the Burkley Phillips No 1 well is successful, there is potential for more than 220 net drilling locations using 80 acre spacing per well covering the 17,500 acres.
Upon completion of Mainland’s proposed merger with American Exploration Corp, Mainland will have a 92% working interest in the well, while Guggenheim Energy Opportunities Fund will have an 8% working interest in the well.
