Kodiak’s Wyoming fields set to flow gas

Allen Baker

Petroleum News contributing writer

Kodiak Oil and Gas Corp., based in Denver, Colo., has completed archeological work needed before a gas sales pipeline can be built on the Pacific Rim coalbed methane project in southwestern Wyoming.

The target date for production from nine existing wells is now late April or early May, according to Kodiak’s president, Lynn Peterson, with gas flowing to markets by July. The company had said last fall that the wells would be connected to pipelines by the end of 2003. The sales pipeline will run about two miles, and the archeological work will also allow the last two wells to be hooked up to a water disposal facility. Kodiak holds a 20 percent interest in the project, operated by Warren E & P Inc.

Surveying and permitting are under way for 17 more wells, as well as another water disposal facility, Peterson said. The company expects drilling on those wells to start in August as part of a program anticipating 30 wells this year altogether. The company got a cash infusion with a private placement in February that will be used to pay Kodiak’s share of drilling costs. Kodiak has also finished archeological work for the Chicken Springs project and is waiting for the Bureau of Land Management to approve a drilling application there. The company expects the initial exploratory well to be started within the next four months, with drilling of 10 development wells planned if the test well shows promising results.