Elko: Luna Spud Date Anticipated Early December

- Elko: Luna Spud Date Anticipated Early December

Thursday, September 08, 2011
Elko Energy Inc.

Elko announced on May 4, 2011, that the Luna well will be drilled by the Maersk Resolve jack up drilling unit. The rig had been secured by Norwegian Energy Company ASA ("Noreco"), the license operator, under a letter of intent. At that time the rig was expected to be available in mid August 2011 and Elko subsequently announced on June 22, 2011 that the rig was anticipated to arrive at the Luna location in the second half of September 2011. Elko has been now advised by Noreco that the rig has been further delayed and the Luna spud date is now anticipated to be in early December 2011. The Maersk Resolve is currently drilling on contract to Maersk Oil and Gas in Denmark and as such the delays are out of the control of Noreco.

As previously announced, the 01/11 partners intend the Luna well to test the overall Rotliegendes play concept. The Luna prospect is located in a small half graben with the pinch out edge to the south east of the structure. The Rotliegendes reservoir is thought to have a high probability of being present at this location based on the seismic interpretation. Uncertainty still exists however on which seismic event represents the top reservoir and where the pinch out occurs.

In addition to the uncertainty on the pinch out position, there is a possibility that the Rotliegendes does not, in fact, pinch out but continues up dip into Lead A. It is therefore possible that Luna and Lead A are connected and represent one feature. The current well location which targets the Luna prospect was picked in order to maximize the information gathered by the well and is designed to address this uncertainty. The Luna drilling program is expected to take about one month in duration.

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Red Emperor to Begin Drilling Georgia Well in Early July

- Red Emperor to Begin Drilling Georgia Well in Early July

Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Red Emperor Resources NL

Red Emperor provided the following update on activities in Georgia with respect to the drilling of its first exploration well.

The exploration drilling rig and associated equipment that will be used for the Company's two well exploration program arrived at the port of Poti in Georgia recently and is now on site being erected with a scheduled spudding date of early July. A total of 40-50 personnel will be conducting the drilling program on a 24 hour basis.

This Mukhiani well is targeting the Vani 3 prospect which has a best estimate of oil in place in excess of +115mbbls (with 23MMbls attributable to Red Emperor's 20% interest). This prospect was also the subject of the geochemical helium survey completed by Actual Geology earlier this year with the results identifying a positive presence of helium anomalies across the prospect that indicate the presence of a working hydrocarbon system.

The Mukhiani well is targeting a depth of approximately 3,500m and is expected to reach target depth within 45-55 days, and is the first of a two well highly prospective exploration drilling program to be completed by the Company this year.

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Brigham Notes Bakken Well's Early Peak Rate

- Brigham Notes Bakken Well's Early Peak Rate

Monday, June 27, 2011
Brigham Exploration Co.

Brigham announced the successful completion of the Gobbs 17-8 #1H Montana Bakken well at an early 24-hour peak rate of approximately 1,818 barrels of oil equivalent (1,544 barrels of oil and 1.64 MMcf of natural gas) after being fracture stimulated with 36 stages. The Gobbs 17-8 #1H, which is located approximately 16 miles west of the border between North Dakota and Montana in Roosevelt County, represents Brigham's second best early peak rate in Montana, relative to Brigham's Johnson 10-19 #1H which is located just under five miles from the border. Brigham anticipates that it will complete and bring on line to production four additional Montana Bakken wells over the next several months.

Bud Brigham, the Chairman, President and CEO, commented, "Our operations department has delivered another outstanding Montana Bakken well. We believe the Gobbs' result clearly begins to de-risk our Roosevelt County acreage, given that the well is located approximately 17 miles northwest of Brigham's Johnson 10-19 #1H, which came on line at a Montana Bakken well record of 2,962 barrels of oil equivalent per day. Finally, our operational activity in the Williston Basin continues to accelerate, we currently anticipate bringing on line to production a record operated 10 gross, or 5.8 net wells in the month of June, which will positively impact third quarter production and beats our previous record of 6 gross, or 3.9 net wells."

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Commissioner Seeks to Complete Rule-Making on Fracturing Bill a Year Early

- Commissioner Seeks to Complete Rule-Making on Fracturing Bill a Year Early

Friday, June 03, 2011
Rigzone Staff

Texas Railroad Commissioner (TRC) David Porter said would push the Railroad Commission (RRC) to complete the entire rule-making process requiring disclosure of chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing a year ahead of the deadline set in recent legislation.

The Texas Legislature on May 31 sent a bill to Governor Rick Perry on requiring the RRC to write disclosure rules for hazardous chemicals by July 1, 2012. The bill requires the RRC to complete rule-making for all other chemicals used in the process by July 1, 2013.

"In order for Texans to maintain confidence in the oil and gas industry, it is important for us to get this done as quickly as possible," said Porter. "Hydraulic fracturing has been an economic driver for Texas, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs and adding billions of dollars to local economies. We are currently seeing record activity in the Eagle Ford Shale due to hydraulic fracturing which is why I am creating a task force to study these very issues. We need to assure the public that hydraulic fracturing is safe and responsible – and has been for the past sixty years – and we need to do it now."

The RRC will begin the rule-making process at its next open conference this month and will hold open meetings throughout the state in coming months to garner public comment.

Porter said the agency may increase the number of members on TRC's newly formed Eagle Ford shale task force from the original plan for between 15 to 18 members due to the quality of applications. TRC is reviewing applications now and hopes to have selected all members of the voluntary task force, which will include a mix of energy industry members, local environmental groups, elected officials and landowners in the Eagle Ford shale area of South Texas, by the end of June.

TRC decided to form the Eagle Ford shale task force to head off the perception and communication problems encountered with the Barnett shale gas drilling boom hit Texas. "We're trying to be proactive, not reactive," Porter said.

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Statoil Plans to Become US Shale Operator by Early 2013 -Exec

- Statoil Plans to Become US Shale Operator by Early 2013 -Exec

Friday, June 03, 2011
Dow Jones Newswires
by Angel Gonzalez

Statoil, which built its oil and gas expertise in Norway's offshore waters, is stretching its land legs in the U.S., where it seeks to partake of the shale bounty.

Like many international oil and gas companies, Norway's Statoil has poured billions into joint ventures with some of the North American independents that in the last decade figured out how to profitably unlock the oil and gas trapped in shale, bankrolling their drilling while hoping to learn some of their techniques. But peering over its partners' shoulders is not enough: Statoil plans to run its own U.S. shale operation in South Texas's Eagle Ford Shale by early 2013, said the company's executive vice president for North America, Bill Maloney.

"We have aspirations and definite plans to become an operator in the onshore ourselves," he told Dow Jones Newswires in a recent interview at Statoil's North American headquarters in Houston. The company last October struck a $1.3 billion joint venture deal with Talisman in the Eagle Ford, which allows it the option to become operator.

"We are working towards that," Maloney said.

Statoil has been in the shale business since 2008, when it acquired 32.5% of a joint venture with Chesapeake in the Marcellus Shale, a big natural gas-rich rock formation in the Northeastern U.S. for $3.4 billion. Maloney said he sees some expansion in the Marcellus, but added that Statoil is really interested in growing its presence in the Eagle Ford, which is richer in oil.

High oil prices have turned the Eagle Ford into one of the hottest drilling basins in the world. On Wednesday, Marathon said it bought $3.5 billion in acreage from a company partially owned by private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., in one of the largest deals seen in the region.

Statoil is also interested in investment opportunities in other shales around the U.S., Maloney said.

Statoil's shale forays underscore the newfound promise found in the U.S. oil patch, once thought tapped out of its energy riches. It is now seen by large international oil companies as a key area for growth, as high oil prices have enabled many developing oil-rich countries to erect barriers to foreign investment.

Statoil helped make Norway the third-largest energy exporter, after Russia and Saudi Arabia, but the company's investments now extend all over the planet, from Algeria to Canada to Venezuela.

Its expansion in North America was gradual; throughout the years company made several large acquisitions in Canada and the U.S., including sizable deepwater acreage in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, a position in Albertan oil sands, and the 2008 Chesapeake deal. By the time Maloney assumed the helm of a newly created North America unit in January, Statoil's assets in the continent had reached a critical mass.

Statoil had no employees in Houston in 2003, Maloney said. Now the company occupies nine floors in a high-rise near Houston's energy corridor--three floors more than last year--where nearly 400 employees work.

"We saw opportunities; we went after them," Maloney said. "Then, lo and behold, we built something here of size that we needed to separate out."

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

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