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GRI drilling exploration well in Houston gas field Field for sale; drilling by end of March will hold lease to north of wells drilled in 1998 Kristen Nelson PNA News Editor
GRI Inc. received a drilling permit March 24 for an exploration well, the 22 Houston on a lease north of existing shallow gas wells in the Houston gas field. The northern lease, ADL 381134, where the 22 Houston is permitted, had an expiration date of March 31, 2000, and Dave Johnston, who handled permitting on the project for GRI and will oversee the drilling, told PNA March 28 that drilling is necessary to hold the lease and will also continue the company’s exploration efforts in the area.
Johnston said April 4 that the well is spud; Tester Drilling is doing the drilling.
The Houston field is for sale and Johnston said that the current plan is “to drill the well, determine if coal is present at shallow depth and to test the well if warranted.”
Development plans, he said, would rest with the new owner.
Houston gas field development includes 50 wells The 22 Houston is one of 50 wells GRI planned in 1998 permitting it received from the Division of Oil and Gas for development of the Houston gas field.
In 1998, GRI drilled four wells on two adjacent leases to the south and southwest. All are shallow wells targeting coalbed gas. Completion depths were 1,730 feet for the 1 Houston, 2,105 feet for the 2 Houston, 2,030 feet for the 3 Houston and 478 feet for the 4 Houston.
Dave Lappi, who began lease acquisition in the area and previously managed the field, told PNA in January that Growth Resources, the Perth, Australia-based parent company of GRI, was in negotiations from Perth to sell the field.
Lappi said that Growth Resources, originally a gold mining company in Australia before it acquired his leases for the Houston coalbed gas field, changed its focus to high tech in late 1998, early 1999.
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