BUSY YEAR FOR WEST COAST JUNIOR......by Moira Baird, Evening Telegram-January,28/04
Vulcan Minerals' busiest season in its eight-year history begins next week on the province's west coast.
That's when a drilling rig is expected to arrive on the Parson's Pond exploration well, located just north of Gross Morne National Park.
There, St. John's-based Vulcan is teamed with several companies led by Calgary-based Contact Exploration Inc.
Vulcan also plans to work on three other wells southwest of Stephenville late next month.This exploration activity will keep the company busy until June."This is the busiest year for us in terms of the the number of wells that we're going to drill-and they're all high-impact wells," said Pat Laracy, president of Vulcan."They're all capable of making a discovery which is significant to Vulcan Minerals".
For the Parson's Pond well, Contact hired a slim-hole drill rig from Logan Drilling, a cmpany based in Truro, Nova Scotis.Slim hole rigs are used in the mining industry to collect core samples.
Experience with Rig
"It's a rid that we've had experience with in Nova Scotia", said Jim Beattie, vice-president of lands and regulatory affairs for Contact.He say some Contact employees worked with Northstar Energy Corp. when it used the same rig to drill two onshore wells in Nova Scotia.
Beattie expects the rig to arrive in Newfoundland during the first week of february-once it has been modified to drill an oil well.Then,the 45-day drilling program begins.
"We're projecting to spud(the well) some time in the first part of February", said Beattie."We're drilling according to good oil-field practice...the rig still has to be certified for oil and gas activity, which means it has to have a blowout preventer".
Vulcan expects to test its discovery well, Flat Bay No. 1, using a slim-hole drill rig.That work will take about eight to ten days.
Drilling the Flat bay No. 2 well begins once the Parson's Pond well is done.Laracy said the company will also use a slim- hole rig for that job, and expects to sign an agreement by the middle of February.
To outfit the rig for oil well drilling, Vulcan will use some of the Parson's Pond equipment , including a blowout prevention system.
"We could source it elsewhere, but it's very expensive.It's just as well to wait and use the one that's being used on Parson's Pond" said Laracy.
A third Flat Bay well is also planned, and will depend upon the results from the first two wells.
Laracy doesn't expect winter weather to be a problem, although it is an added cost keeping employees and drilling fluids warm.
He expects work to begin on Flat Bay No. 2 by the middle of March."The weather will have turned, we hope, by then" said Laracy.
So far, Contact has four partners in the Parson's Pond exploration well.They've come from the ranks of junior petroleum exploration companies-Newfoundland-based Deer lake Oil and Gas, along with British Columbia-based Gulf Shore Resources and Crown Point.
Each partner contributes about $150,000 to the more than $1-million well, in return for a 10 percent ownership stake in Parson's Pond.
Beattie expects a fifth partner to sign up under the same terms this week.The deal calls for drilling to begin by Feb.15.
"We're certainly well ahead of that schedule in terms of getting the access road in and getting the surface casing drilled and set", said Beattie.
Oil seepage in the Parson's Pond area has been documented as early as 1812.Local lore has it a man named Parsons used the oil to ease his rheumatism, and the first exploratory well was drilled there in 1867. |
