|
Central Mackenzie wells yield ‘very positive’ results Paramount-Apache Canada partnership schedules additional winter drilling at Colville Hills, where two wells point to possible gas reserves of 250 bcf Gary Park Petroleum News Calgary Correspondent
Paramount Resources, in partnership with Apache Canada, has raised hopes that it is hot on the trail of a major natural gas reservoir in the Central Mackenzie Valley.
The 50-50 partners announced Sept. 8 that they have achieved “very positive” results from three wells drilled on the Nogha prospect, with possible gas reserves from two of the wells estimated at 250 billion cubic feet.
Paramount said earlier this year that it was evaluating several long-term development options to capitalize on its exploration success in the Colville Lake area.
Those could include participation in the proposed Mackenzie Valley pipeline or the construction of a 500-mile dedicated pipeline from Norman Wells to northern Alberta, to tie in with the existing pipeline infrastructure.
The two companies said the three wells were drilled to depths of 4,600-4,900 feet. The first two, Apache Paramount Nogha C-49 and Paramount Apache Nogha M-17, were cased, completed and flow tested as successful sweet gas wells, with post stimulation flow rates ranging from 3 million to 5 million cubic feet per day.
The third well, Apache Paramount Nogha N-23, was drilled about 6 miles to the south, but has not been flow tested because of spring break up, although a production test is scheduled for this winter. Possible reserves of 250 bcf Based on an “extremely encouraging” independent review of the exploration results from the C-49 and M-17 wells, McDaniels and Associates Consultants have assigned possible raw gas reserves of about 250 billion cubic feet based on an area covering 16,800 acres.
Information from the B-23 well “suggests a potential upside” to the reserves estimate, Paramount said.
Paramount and Apache have a combined land base of 721,000 acres north of Norman Wells, including a 10-year concession agreement with local aboriginal communities.
Paramount holds a 100 percent working interest in another 200,000 acres.
This winter, the partners plan to drill further exploratory wells, including the Lake Maunoir location to follow up the Lac Maunoir C-34 well that was drilled, cased and tested in 2003. Those results were described as “very positive,” although details are not being released at this time.
In addition, the West Nogha K-14 exploratory well, drilled last winter to test a separate structure on aboriginal concession lands, will be evaluated this winter.
“Based on the positive results so far, Paramount and Apache are investigating several scenarios to bring this gas to market,” the news release said. Repairs to gas line completed Meanwhile, in the lower Northwest Territories, Paramount and its partners have completed repairs to a gas line that is tied in to the Liard production facility.
A five-day flow test of the recently drilled and completed Liard 2M-25 Nahanni well resulted in raw gas flow rates greater than 25 million cubic feet per day. The well is currently shut in for buildup.
Work will also start soon on the Liard M-25 well that has been shut in since January,
A successful workover of the M-25 and 2M-25 wells and an upgrade of common facilities should see both wells producing in early October, adding 35 million cubic feet per day to current production.
Partners in the field are Paramount 46.19 percent, Purcell Energy 24 percent, Anadarko Canada 21 percent, Devon Canada 4.9 percent, Canadian Natural Resources 2.1 percent, EnCana and Talisman Energy.
| 