Purcell sets bold target for Fort Liard

Gary Park, Petroleum News Calgary correspondent

Purcell Energy, despite two weeks of lost production from scheduled maintenance at its Fort Liard field in the Northwest Territories, is optimistic about the near-term outlook. The Calgary-based junior E&P company has set a target of 70 million cubic feet per day this month from its K-29 and 2K-29 wells after bringing 2K-29 (24 percent working interest) on line in April at 25 million cubic feet per day.

But M-25 continued to have production problems during the second quarter, which forced Purcell and its partners to conduct a workover rather than restarting the well after maintenance. Depending on the results, Purcell said options for M-25 include reducing the size of tubing in the well to increase pressure or sidetracking the well to a different location within the gas pool. Overall, Purcell’s total production for the latest quarter dropped to 3,774 barrels of oil equivalent per day from 3,933 boe/d a year ago, but profits for the three months climbed to C$1.46 million from C$230,000 and revenues rose to C$11.21 million from C$7,21 million.