FIELD ACTIVITIES / Ultra Petroleum Drilling Update
ULTRA PETROLEUM DECEMBER FIELD UPDATE
DENVER, CO--
Ultra Petroleum and its partners have drilled 16 of the 29 wells
planned for this year's drilling program in the Pinedale / Jonah
Area of Sublette County, Wyoming. Financing plans are underway to
assure the successful completion of this program by fiscal year
end, June 30 1999. With 13 wells remaining to be drilled, four
are scheduled for inclusion in the current agreement with
Halliburton and funding for the remainder is being finalized.
Except for one dry hole, the wells drilled this year have all
encountered significant intervals of overpressured gas in Lance
formation sands, with the top of the overpressure encountered at
depths ranging from 7,763 to 10,037 feet. Pay sand intervals
averaged 490 net feet.
Ultra's total daily gross production for November rose to 49.0
MMCF/d, up from 37.6 MMCF/d in October. Net production rose to
18.3 MMcf/d up from 13.6 MMCF/d.
MESA AREA ACTIVITY UPDATE
Wells drilled on the Mesa portion of the Pinedale Anticline have
all encountered commercial quantities of overpressured gas sands.
The Mesa area has become Ultra's top priority evaluation project.
Mesa #3-22d (Ultra Operated); Drilled to depth of 13,055 on
October 10th, encountering 819 feet of overpressured Lance sand.
This well is the first of Ultra's directionally drilled wells.
The four fracs planned for the well have been completed, tubing
has been installed, and the well is being prepared for final flow
testing.
Pinedale #13-2A (McMurry operated on farm-out from Ultra);
Drilled as a twin location to the 13-2 that was abandoned last
year. The 13-2A drilled to depth of 11,866 feet on August 11th,
encountering 2,094 feet of overpressured Lance sand. Two zones
were completed and tied into the sales line. These zones produced
70 MMCF of gas in November. McMurry plans to frac stage three of
up to eight total zones in January.
Stewart Point #3-28 (Ultra / Halliburton project well); Drilled
to depth of 13,111 feet on August 12th, this well encountered
1,449 feet of overpressured Lance sand. The well was stimulated
with five fracs. The initial full well bore flow rate was 7,700
MCF/d on November 25th, 1998. The well is currently producing
into the sales line at a rate of 4,450 MCF/d.
Mesa #15-8 (Ultra operated); Drilled to depth of 13,028 feet,
encountering 1,453 feet of overpressured Lance sand. Initial full
well bore flow rate was 16.1 MMCF/d. Well is currently producing
at a rate of approximately 3.1 MMCF/d. Since the first production
on January 1st, 1998, this well has produced a total of 825 MMCF
of gas and 5,885 BBLS of condensate.
Pinedale #13-19 (McMurry operated on farm out from Ultra); The
well reached a total depth of 12,800 feet on September 20th,
encountering 1,739 feet of overpressured Lance sand. Two of six
frac stages have been completed and are currently being
evaluated.
HSR Sherlock #15-8 (Western Gas Resources/ Ultra joint venture);
Drilled to depth of 12,783 feet on October 11th, encountering
1,513 feet of overpressured Lance sand. Due to winter big game
restrictions activity at this location has ceased until spring.
Completion will require six to eight stages with work scheduled
to start in May 1999.
Stewart Point #11-34d (Ultra / Halliburton project well); The
well was spudded on November 16th and conductor pipe was set to
secure this location for drilling and completion in May 1999.
STUD HORSE BUTTE (JONAH FIELD) UPDATE
The Stud Horse Butte area of Jonah Field continues to be a key
development area for Ultra. So far, 21 wells have been drilled on
this acreage block with partners CNG Producing Company,
Halliburton, Western Gas Resources, and Texaco. Ultra has drilled
10 of these wells during this year's drilling program and all
were commercial successes.
Due to improvements in drilling and completion operations, the
average well cost this year has been reduced by nearly 20% while
the average reserve and production performance has been improved.
At this time 16 of Ultra's wells in the field are fully
completed, 3 are partially completed, and 2 are waiting on the
start of completion. All 16 of the fully completed wells are
producing to the sales line. The average Stud Horse field
production rate for November was 40.1 MMCF/d per day gross and
15.1 MMCF/d net. The Stud Horse Butte #1 -23 is now fully
completed and connected to the sales line as announced in
November. Other currently active well sites include:
Stud Horse Butte #9-24(Ultra / Halliburton project well); Drilled
to total depth of 12,323 feet on August 7th, encountering
approximately 475 feet of pay sand. The well has been fully
completed with five frac treatments. Full well bore flow rate on
November 25th was 7,150 MCF/d.
Stud Horse Butte #13-21 (Ultra / Halliburton project well);
Drilled to total depth of 11,511 feet on September 24th ,
encountering approximately 225 feet of pay sand. The well has
been fully completed with three treatments. Full well bore flow
rate on November 19th was 6,600 MCF/d.
Stud Horse Butte #3-24(Ultra / Halliburton project well); Drilled
to total depth of 12,516 feet on October 16th . The well
encountered 497 feet of net pay in the over-pressured Lance
section. Two of four frac treatments have been completed. Flow
back of frac stage two is currently at 700 MCF/d. Completion
activity should finish by the end of December.
Stud Horse Butte #13-14(Ultra / Halliburton project well);
Drilled to a total depth of 12,061 on November 16th. Top of
overpressure was encountered at 9,650 feet. The well encountered
550 feet of net sand in the overpressured Lance section. The
first of four frac treatments has been completed. Flow back of
stage one frac is currently at 2,900 MCF/d into the sales line.
Completion activity should finish by January 10th, 1999.
Stud Horse Butte #1-24(Ultra / Halliburton project well);
Drilled to a total depth of 12,650 feet on December 9th,
encountering approximately 613 feet of pay sand. Top of
overpressure was encountered at 9,750 feet. Completion should
begin in January of 1999.
Stud Horse Butte #11-23 Western / Ultra joint venture); Drilled
to total depth of 12,203 feet on August 15th, encountering
approximately 670 feet of pay sand. The well has been fully
completed with six frac treatments. Full well bore flow rate on
November 27th was 8,707 MCF/d.
Stud Horse Butte #9-23 (Western / Ultra joint venture); Drilled
to total depth of 12,296 feet on September 3rd, encountering
approximately 580 feet of pay sand. The well has been fully
completed with five frac treatments. Full well bore flow rate on
October 30th was 10,900 MCF/d.
Stud Horse Butte #11-24 (Western / Ultra joint venture); Drilled
to a total depth of 12,525 feet on November 8th, encountering 691
feet of net pay in the overpressured Lance section. The first of
five frac treatments has been completed. Flow back of stage one
frac is currently at 2,500 MCF/d. Completion activity should
finish by the end of January 1999.
Stud Horse Butte #9-21 (Western / Ultra joint venture); Drilled
to a total depth of 11,625 feet on November 28th, encountering
approximately 589 feet of pay sand. Completion should begin by
early January.
All gas volumes expressed herein are field production volumes,
which vary slightly from actual sales volumes due to measurement
unit conversion, transportation losses, production operations,
and gas plant usage.
Ultra Petroleum is a natural gas exploration and development
company operating primarily in the Green River Basin in southwest
Wyoming. The Company is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange
(TSE:UP) and the Vancouver Stock Exchange (VSE:UP).
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