Olympic Resources has acquired 32 per cent of the East Corning project in
Tehema county, California. The East Corning project consists of 6,500 acres
in the oil and gas leases and over 25 miles of 2-D seismic data.
The East Corning project lies approximately 100 miles north of Sacramento
within the main Forbes depositional fairway at the northern portion of the
Sacramento Valley gas trend. The property lies adjacent to the Corning gas
field to the east and directly north of the Rice Creek gas field. It is
analogous to the East Rice Creek field and is one of the few underexplored
regions remaining in California. Well density and Forbes penetrations are
sparse within the project area. The East Corning project has never received
3-D seismic coverage despite being on trend with prolific Forbes production
to the south. Three-dimensional coverage directly south of the project has
established numerous pools including Rice Creek (35 billion cubic feet,
primarily Forbes) and Malton Black Butte field (132 billion cubic feet,
Kione and Forbes). The closest significant Forbes production to the project
area is from Rice Creek where production from the lower Forbes section is
most common.
The primary target is the Upper Cretaceous Forbes formation which has thick
sections of Forbes sands and comprises turbidite fans and channel-levee
complexes. The sands were deposited from north to south as turbidite fans.
The primary trapping mechanism in East Corning is stratigraphic although
general structural bowing, regional folding and general northwest-southeast
faulting with some cross-faulting are anticipated to enhance gas
entrapment. In addition, the uplift of the basin by the Coast Range uplift
to the west has tilted the basin to the east providing gas migration
possibilities within the turbidite fan complexes. Compressional movement
has formed the Corning anticline in the Corning gas field (10 billion cubic
feet), where Eocene production was established from the shallow Corning gas
sands (1,400 to 1,800 feet). This structure is present at Forbes depth and
should enhance trapping possibilities.
The Kione formation is a secondary target and is highly prospective within
the project area. The Kione is a fluvial/deltaic section that comprises up
to 1,500 feet of sands that are separated by interbedded shale sections of
up to 100 feet in thickness making numerous sand prospects. The primary
trapping mechanism for Kione gas entrapment is truncation by the Eocene
unconformity that lies at the top of the Cretaceous section in this area.
Faulting and folding are also potential trapping mechanisms on the
property. A similar Kione producer in the area is the Malton Black Butte
gas field where significant Kione gas accumulations are present under the
Eocene unconformity. In the East Corning project, Kione sands are
progressively thinner from south to north due to truncation by the Eocene
unconformity, and thin out to the north and west toward the northern part
of the project.
Another secondary target at East Corning is the Corning sands which are
productive in the Corning gas field. These sands comprise Eocene non-marine
fluvial/deltaic sands averaging five to 120 feet in thickness. The Corning
sands are trapped on a structural closure over the north-south Corning
anticline. Potential traps along this structural trend occur within the
project. Cumulative production from these sands at the Corning gas field is
10 billion cubic feet.
Additional existing 2-D seismic data produced prior to the development of
the AVO process have been acquired and reprocessed by Olympic's geologists.
The reprocessed data accumulated to date has already identified several
prospective drill targets.
The company also reports the Disco Inferno well in Contra Costa county,
California, reached target depth of 7,053 feet and encountered no
significant hydrocarbons. The well was subsequently shut in and abandoned.
Further, the Stayin Alive well reached target depth of 9,465 feet. The
target sands were reached and had some significant gas shows. However, it
is believed that due to depletion from surrounding wells, this well would
not be commercial viable. Consequently, the well was also shut in and
abandoned. |
