By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Mar. 6 -- Petrobank Energy & Resources Ltd., Calgary, has drilled its first Montney tight sand well and established an acreage position in the Muskwa and Evie shale play in Northeast British Columbia.
In the two resource plays, the company is applying horizontal drilling and multistage frac technologies developed in the Bakken formation in Saskatchewan.
Petrobank acquired a private company in October 2008 and holds 100% working interest in 14 sq miles of contiguous land in the Montney and a 5 MMcfd gas processing plant near Monias, BC, west of Dawson Creek.
Initial test rates at the first Montney horizontal well exceed 7.5 MMcfd of gas and 180 b/d of condensate after seven fracs in the upper part of the 135-m thick Montney interval.
Consistent geology establishes a 55-well inventory of Montney locations. Petrobank will add compression to hike plant capacity to 10 MMcfd and drill another well later in 2009.
Petrobank's Horn River basin position totals 43,428 acres with 100% working interest and 14 sq miles with 15.5% working interest. Work in most of the basin is limited to January through March due to the presence of thick muskeg.
Petrobank spud the first well in February near the Alaska highway in an area with all-season access and plans a multistage frac program in the second quarter of 2009. Its immediate focus will be on drilling test wells and developing a multiyear inventory of drilling locations in the Muskwa and Evie shales.
