FIELD ACTIVITIES / Westfort Energy, Ltd. Drilling Update
JACKSON, MS, Jan. 25 /CNW/ - Westfort Energy Ltd. symbol WT on the
Toronto Stock Exchange, announced today the following comments regarding
progress on its drilling and production programs:
Test results 18-4 well on pump.
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The well originally drilled as the Pelahatchie Deep Unit 18-4 No.1 well
has been successfully completed in the 11,300 ft zone at Pelahatchie Field. A
40 acre unit has been formed, and the well renamed the J.W.Rhodes Et Al 18-4
No.1 well for production purposes. The J.W.Rhodes Et Al 18-4 No.1 well
(originally Pel. Deep Unit 18-4), has been placed on a pump with initial
production gauged at 2 barrels per hour barrels of oil and no water when
pumping at 6 strokes per minute and 3 barrels of oil per hour with no water at
8 strokes per minute. Plans are to pump the well slowly for a time in order
to clean up formation damage experienced in the zone while it was exposed to
drilling fluids while the well was drilled to deeper depths. As reported
earlier, the company was able to test the well at over 200 barrels of oil per
day using a swab on wireline. Initial pumping pressures are 75 psi tubing
pressure and 135 psi casing pressure. Gas from the well is more than
sufficient to run the pumping unit and production facilities for the well,
resulting in nearly zero operating cost.
New permit for second Norphlet formation test well.
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A new permit to redrill the Pelahatchie Deep Unit 18-4 to 17,300 feet,
the Pelahatchie Deep Unit 18-4 No.2, has been issued by the Mississippi State
Oil and Gas Board. The permit allows drilling to commence anytime in the next
five months. The original 18-4 well was drilled to a depth of 17,230 feet as
a Norphlet formation test well. Significant and multiple oil and/or gas zones
were found in the Lower Cretaceous, Hosston, Cotton Valley,
Buckner/Haynesville, Smackover and Norphlet formations. Mechanical problems
prevented the company from being able to effect a completion in the Norphlet
zone where a 107 foot oil column was discovered with indicated recoverable
reserves in excess of 6,000,000 barrels of oil and 6 billion cubic feet of
sweet methane gas. Temporarily, the company elected to plug back and complete
in the 11,300 foot zone in the well where 16 feet of net pay was present in
the same Hosston formation sand that is presently producing in the Johnny
Rhodes well. The 11,300 ft zone was selected from the many zones available
which contain oil and/or gas for the initial completion in the well because of
its geological correlation with the Johnny Rhodes well, situated approximately
one mile north. The Johnny Rhodes well continues to flow naturally without a
pump. Pelahatchie field has in the past had wells produce in fourteen
different zones to the depth of 12,000 ft.; several wells produced from the
Norphlet at 17,100 feet; and one had a significant test of the Smackover zone
at 16,800 feet.
Additional production anticipated.
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Two presently shut-in wells in Pelahatchie are scheduled for
recompletions to new zones. The first of these recompletions is scheduled to
commence immediately, with the second to commence upon completion of the
first. These recompletions, together with an anticipated increase in the
J.W.Rhodes Et Al well's production rate as its cleans up, is expected to add
significantly to the company's daily production totals in the next 30 to 45
days.
In 1999, the company plans to drill and/or, reenter a number of new
wells. Several financing options are now being considered, including possible
jt/venture participation by others in its projects in order to raise the
needed drilling capital and expedite development of the fields. Details will
be forthcoming as decisions are made.
Other News: The British Columbia Securities Commission erroneously
published Westfort Energy Ltd.'s name on the Issuers in Default List dated
December 9, 1998 and January 13, 1999. In fact, the financial statements for
the nine month period ended September 30, 1998, were received on November 30,
1998 by the Commission.
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