Canadian junior ready to spud Central Mackenzie Valley well

Gary Park, PNA Canadian correspondent

Devlan Exploration Inc. has received final regulatory clearance to launch its winter exploration program in the Central Mackenzie Valley of the Northwest Territories.

The Calgary-based junior E&P company confirmed Jan. 21 that the winter operation involves drilling a deeper well and completing three wells drilled two years ago.

Rating the property as “one of Canada’s last frontiers,” Devlan said in a statement that the potential exists for reserves of up to 100 million barrels of oil and gas accumulations in the trillions of cubic feet from both shallow and deeper zones.

Helped by a continuing freeze-up, Devlan said it has almost completed an access route to its Tree River C-36 well site.

It also said significant cost savings have been achieved by combining drilling and completion operations.

Given current progress, it has set a spud date of Jan. 30 for Tree River C-36, using a Gwich’in Ensign Oilfield Services rig.

The well is just over five miles from the original Tree River B-10 that was drilled and cased to 4,248 feet in the 2000-2001 season.

New feature targeted

The Central Mackenzie property, consisting of 1,071,765 gross acres (net 636,462), is adjacent to the Mackenzie River and Mackenzie Valley Pipeline route in the Grandview Hills region of the Peel Plateau.

Incorporated as a public company in 1992, Devlan has been on a modest growth curve over the last five years, with a heavy emphasis on the Northwest Territories and northern Alberta.

On Jan. 13, it announced a 100 percent success rate for the first five drilling locations of its winter program in the Rainbow Lake area, acquired in summer 2002, and the Bluesky area of northern Alberta.

It projects combined incremental production of 400 barrels per day, increasing its overall production to 2,405 bpd, with drilling scheduled for an additional seven locations this winter.