Olympic's Coalinga No. 1 enters Brown Mt. sand
Olympic Resources Ltd ORL
Shares issued 12,214,378 2001-08-13 close $0.56
Tuesday Aug 14 2001 News Release
Mr. Daryl Pollock reports
Drilling operations are progressing rapidly on the Olympic Coalinga No. 1 gas well located in Fresno county, California. At 10,812 feet, the well had reached its primary target, the Brown Mt. Sand, and the top responded with a very significant gas show of 1,200 units. Drill rates have increased from 15 feet to 70 feet per hour and early analysis indicates the sand is of high quality. Total depth of 11,500 feet may be reached within two days. Mud weights are being increased from 13.7 parts per gram to 14 parts per gram to maintain background gas at an acceptable level.
Olympic currently holds a 20.5-per-cent working interest which results in a 17.5-per-cent net revenue interest before payout and a 14.5-per-cent net revenue interest after payout. The Coalinga Nose prospect consists of 5,000 acres of leased land and is located less than one mile southeast of the East Coalinga extension which has produced 503 million barrels of oil. The prospect is also less than one mile northwest of the Kettleman Hills field which has produced 2.9 trillion cubic feet and 458 million barrels of oil.
"We are extremely pleased at how close these drilling operations have correlated to the 1942 Lyde 968-28 well which was drilled approximately 2,000 metres south. This gives us great confidence in the geologic models and 3-D seismic data that have been developed in planning this project," says Daryl Pollock, president and chief financial officer of Olympic.
The well has drilled through the Moreno formation, a secondary target about 800 feet thick. The Moreno formation consists of shales with interbedded sands lying above the Cretaceous Brown Mt. Sand. Upon entering the formation, gas kicks were immediately encountered at 9,600 feet with associated rapid drilling rates. Total sand thickness in this secondary target is 56 feet with 71 feet of total gas shows. Drilling breaks at 10,030 to 10,036 (540 gas units) and 10,050 to 10,055 (95 gas units) were encountered with live fluorescent oil shows. Background gas currently varies from 50 to 80 units. These gas shows will be investigated for their potential commercial value as the Moreno formation is relatively underexplored. The zones encountered to date correlate to an offset well drilled in 1942 over one mile to the southeast which indicate the company is structurally 600 feet high to this offset well.
To date, $2-million (U.S.) has been spent on the land including a 3-D seismic survey shot in 1997 covering 16 square miles including the prospect area. According to consulting engineer Mark Anderson, this is a superior prospect based on a quality modern 3-D seismic grid, abundant and thoroughly mapped well control, and both production and down dip shows in the target horizon. The 3-D seismic data clearly corroborate existing production from known stratigraphic and structural features from the Cretaceous Brown Mt. formation which is largely untested in this area. Only one well has penetrated the Cretaceous Brown Mt. Sand within the seismic shoot area in 1942. This well had significant untested gas shows in the Brown Mt. Sand from 11,455 feet to bottom. Originally drilled for oil, the off-scale gas shows at the bottom of the well were not tested and the well was abandoned due to a lack of natural gas market during World War II. Four-way closure can be observed within the prospect area where the Brown Mt. Sand is up to 400 feet thick. |
