Alberta Report Story
A Promising Wildcat Points
to Turner Valley Two
By Alberta Report
February 9, 1998 -- Oil scouts have kept a close eye on two wells near Turner Valley, one operated by Berkley Petroleum Corp. and the other a rare exploration effort by Imperial Oil Resources Limited. Both companies farmed into a land position assembled by Bearcat Explorations Ltd. and Stampede Oils Inc., a pair of juniors run by Jack McLeod. The Berkley probe, though apparently not a commercial success, is said to have been geologically exciting and another well is in the works. Imperial, on the other hand, is said to be unreservedly elated with its preliminary results.
With crown land sales coming up, all parties remain tight-lipped about the rebirth of the historic Turner Valley play. Berkley CEO Mike Rose started fretting when disturbingly accurate information began showing up on an Internet chat website called Silicon Investor in December and January. A contributor calling himself Joe Sax would not identify which birdies in the "Berkley pub" were singing to him because "I'm not a stool pigeon."
Now Imperial and Berkley have joined the hunt for a Mississippian formation underlying the overthrusted fields that produced the bulk of Canada's crude oil before the Leduc discovery in 1947. In the mid-1990s, Bearcat-Stampede drilled five costly tests with little success, utterly destroying the play's credibility with investors. (Bearcat, for example, slid from a peak of $3.50 per share to 20 cents. It closed at 53 cents Friday.) Two industry sources say
Imperial well's initial samples look so good that the play is arguably already out of the speculative stage and into development. Perhaps. But the geological risk remains considerable until a full production test is run, which is now said to be scheduled sooner rather than later. The partners' full land position is large, extending from Longview to north of Turner Valley. If geologist Mcleod's original concept of a vast, more or less contiguous reservoir proves prophetic, Turner Valley II could become Canada's largest on-land crude discovery in several decades. |
