Storm Cat to test gas at Northern Dancer

Alan Bailey

Petroleum News

Storm Cat Energy Corp.’s President and CEO Scott Zimmerman has told Petroleum News that his company’s Northern Dancer No. 1 well near Big Lake in Alaska’s Matanuska-Susitna Borough “found gas throughout the section.”

“We were sufficiently encouraged to set casing,” Zimmerman said. “We’re going to do production testing in the next 60 days.”

Zimmerman said that timing of the testing is contingent on obtaining the required services for working the well and that the company is negotiating the use of a drilling rig. Kuukpik Rig 5 drilled the well in February and March before moving to the Kenai Peninsula to drill Aurora Gas LLC’s Endeavour well. The Northern Dancer well is at section 1, township 17 north, range 4 west of the Seward meridian.

Storm Cat is exploring for conventional natural gas but also expects to assess the potential for coalbed methane, Zimmerman has previously told Petroleum News. The company picked up two leases in the November 2004 Mental Health Trust Land Office lease sale and eight leases in the State of Alaska’s May 2005 Cook Inlet state areawide lease sale. All of the leases lie in the same general area of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough.

Storm Cat is registered in British Columbia and has offices in Denver, Calgary and Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Northern Dancer No. 1 is the company’s first Alaska well.