Crown Point Cases 5th Consecutive Argentina Oil Well

- Crown Point Cases 5th Consecutive Argentina Oil Well

Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Crown Point Ventures Ltd.

Crown Point Ventures has drilled and cased the fifth well of the current drilling program as a potential multi zone oil well. The Company also reports a successful work over of EV 19 which is one of the first wells drilled by Crown Point in Argentina.

Drilling Update

EV 27

Crown Point announced that the EV 27 well, the fifth well of the 2011 drilling program, has been logged and cased as a potential multi zone oil well. Logs and samples taken while drilling indicate a total of 23 net meters of potential pay in the Canadon Seco and the Mina el Carmen Formations. Later this week, the completion rig will be moving to the EV 27 location to commence its completion program.

The drilling rig is now moving to a new location EV 30. This will be the first well drilled by Crown Point on the northern side of the El Valle field. The primary target of this well is the historically prolific Caleta Olivia zone.

Completion Update

EV 19

Crown Point re-completed a 3 meter thick zone in the Caleta Olivia in the EV 19 which was originally drilled in 2009. After the re-completion of the EV 19 Caleta Olivia zone it swab tested oil with an oil cut of 70% giving an extrapolated oil production rate of 190 bbls. of oil per day ("BOPD"). Prior to the work over, the well was producing a trace of oil from the Canadon Seco with a 99 per cent water cut.

Drilling Plans 2011-2012

This drilling program is part of a larger 20-25 well program to be conducted at El Valle over the next 24 months. Crown Point is planning to drill two to four more wells at El Valle prior to year end. At Canadon Ramirez the Company plans to drill 2-5 wells on its 100% interest exploitation concession over the next 12 months and one 50% interest well at Laguna de Piedra in the first or second quarter of 2012. At Cerro Los Leones Crown Point anticipates receiving the required environmental permits in the near term and plans to commence the shooting of the 3-D and 2-D programs shortly after receiving these permits. The completion and interpretation of the seismic program is expected to be followed by a 2-5 well 50% interest program in 2012.

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Diaz Cases 1st Lloydminster Well

- Diaz Cases 1st Lloydminster Well

Tuesday, August 02, 2011
Diaz Resources Ltd.

Diaz Resources has successfully drilled and cased the Lloyd HZ 105/15-18-48-1W4 well. This is the first of four horizontal Lloydminster heavy oil wells which Diaz plans to drill in the 3rd quarter of 2011.

The Lloyd HZ 105/15-18-48-1W4 well encountered 709 meters of oil saturated porous sand in the Lloydminster zone. Based on geological samples, the reservoir section encountered in this well appears to be of higher quality than the existing offset Lloyd HZ 100/15-18-48-1W4 well, which has produced over 18,000 barrels of oil, to date.

The second well, in the current Lloydminster drilling program, Lloyd HZ 106/15-18-48-1W4, began drilling on July 30, 2011. Both wells are anticipated to be on production in approximately 2 weeks time, after the drilling rig has moved off the production lease site.

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Trafina Cases 2nd McMullen Vertical Well

- Trafina Cases 2nd McMullen Vertical Well

Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Trafina Energy Ltd.

Trafina announced that its second well in the McMullen area of northeastern Alberta has been drilled, cored, tested and cased. Trafina Martin Hills at 5-28-77-25W4 (5-28) was rig-released earlier this week. The rig is expected to be moved to the third location at 11-28-77-25W4 (11-28) this morning, weather permitting.

The 5-28 well encountered 10 meters of Wabasca A sand. Additionally, the two variables necessary for commercial production, pressure and viscosity, have been quantified. A pressure test performed on the well indicates a bottom-hole pressure between 1,850 and 1,910 kilopascals (kpa) and oil recovered from the core has a viscosity of 22,000 to 26,000 centipoises. As disclosed on July 11, 2011, pressure needs to exceed 1,200 kpa and viscosity needs to be less than 50,000 centipoises. Completion operations are underway and first production could occur in early August 2011.

Although the Wabasca zone could be construed to be a blanket sand, it is not a homogenous reservoir. Industry experience has shown that each well drilled may exhibit markedly different characteristics of pay thickness, porosity, water saturation, pressure and viscosity. Therefore, Trafina intends to announce the results of each vertical evaluation well drilled.

The results achieved with the 5-28 bode well for the success of Trafina's business plan for this rapidly developing core area. The initial well drilled in the McMullen area at 16-28 in early July encountered 8.5 meters of Wabasca A sand and will be completed in due course. If the third well at 11-28 provides the same characteristics as 16-28 and 5-28, it is likely that pod development in at least two quarter sections of section 28 will occur later in 2011.

West Pembina, Alberta

At West Pembina, Trafina's second non-operated Cardium horizontal well has reached total depth, albeit late and over budget as a result of drilling problems. It is anticipated that the well will be completed with a multi-stage fracturing operation as soon as time and ancillary services are available. Trafina has a 25 percent working interest in this well. Two additional Cardium wells are planned for the fourth quarter of 2011 and the first quarter of 2012.

Rangeview/Divide, Saskatchewan

Trafina recently increased its working interest in the Rangeview/Divide area of southwest Saskatchewan from 80 to 90 percent. The 10 percent increase is a result of the settlement of debt owed to Trafina by a working interest partner in the Rangeview/Divide properties.

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US to Regulate Offshore Drilling Contractors in 'Select' Cases

- US to Regulate Offshore Drilling Contractors in 'Select' Cases

Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Dow Jones Newswires
WASHINGTON
by Tennille Tracy

U.S. officials are pursuing a relatively narrow approach to regulating offshore drilling contractors and service providers, such as Transocean and Halliburton, after reviewing their scope of authority over such companies in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon spill.

Speaking to lawmakers in recent weeks, the head of the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement has said his agency will continue to hold primary operators responsible for drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and other areas in the Outer Continental Shelf.

But in some cases, where the actions of companies hired to do specific tasks is "egregious," the bureau will pursue fines, penalties or charges against the contractor directly, said bureau Director Michael Bromwich.

"I don't think it makes sense to say we will never, under any circumstances, proceed to take regulatory action against a contractor no matter how egregious its conduct may be in one incident or a series of incidents," Bromwich said Friday during a hearing of the House Natural Resources Committee.

Historically, the federal government has developed safety standards for primary operators, such BP or ExxonMobil, and then relied on the operators to make sure their contractors followed the rules. The possible role of contractors working on the Macondo well, however, raised questions about that approach.

Speaking to reporters Friday, Bromwich said his agency will continue in most cases to work within the chain of command between operators and contractors and will only go after contractors "in a select number of cases."

This represents an expansion of the bureau's current enforcement authority, but a relatively conservative approach when compared with other actions the bureau could take.

In April, Bromwich said his bureau was looking at applying "any" or "all" of its rules to the contractors.

The bureau is taking this step after determining it has the legal right to directly regulate contractors and other service providers.

Despite Bromwich's vows to regulate contractors in isolated incidences, lawmakers and industry representatives are criticizing the bureau's actions.

In an interview, Rep. Jeff Landry (R., La.) said the bureau didn't need to step up its oversight of contractors because operators were capable of ensuring those companies followed the rules.

"Once we allow that crack in the door, [the bureau] won't just open the door all the way, they will blow the door off the hinges," Landry said.

Contractors, meanwhile, say the bureau's actions will create confusion in determining liability for oil drilling projects. Contractors could also find it difficult to get insurance and, as a result, opt to do more business in foreign waters, said Brian Petty, executive vice president of government affairs for the International Association of Drilling Contractors.

The bureau "doesn't have the experience or resources to regulate this whole arena of contractors," Petty said. "At the end of the day, it's up to the operator to inspect any flaw or episode."

Bromwich said Friday that lawmakers and industry lobbyists who think the bureau's new oversight of contractors is "going to be a revolution" or become the "new dominant strain in our regulation" are misunderstanding the bureau's plans.

Copyright (c) 2011 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

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Madalena Cases Argentina Well as Potential Oil Discovery

Madalena Cases Argentina Well as Potential Oil Discovery

Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Madalena Ventures Inc.

Madalena Ventures Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiary Madalena Austral SA ("Madalena" or the "Corporation"), announced Tuesday that the Corporation's CAN X-4 exploratory well on the Coiron Amargo Block has been cased as a potential oil discovery. The well is situated on a separately defined 3D drilling anomaly located between the CAN X-1 and CAN X-2 wells.

The CAN X-4 exploration well was drilled to total depth ("TD") of 11,027 feet and has been cased to TD. Both oil and gas shows were evident during the drilling of the Vaca Muerta and Sierras Blancas formations. Based on electric logs, the Vaca Muerta formation had similar thickness and characteristics to the other four wells the Corporation has drilled on the block. In the Sierras Blancas formation, the well encountered a potential gross hydrocarbon column of 92 feet.

The Corporation now plans to return to the CAS X-1 well drilled in April 2011 in the southern portion of the block to test both the Sierras Blancas and Vaca Muerta formations encountered by the well. Part of the test is expected to include a fracture stimulation of the Vaca Muerta formation and combined test results will be reported as soon as they are available. Completion operations at the CAS X-1 well have commenced to be immediately followed by testing of the CAN X-4 well.

Madalena is a publicly traded international junior Canadian oil and gas exploration company. The Company is actively evaluating international oil and gas opportunities with a primary focus on South America.

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