Nabors Drilling International Ltd., an affiliate of Nabors Industries Inc., Houston, has acquired the Key Victoria jack up from Santa Fe International Corp., Dallas, for $27.5 million in cash. That rig is en route to the Middle East from Venezuela. Previously, Nabors acquired the Odin Star, now in the Arabian Gulf, from Mike Mullen Energy Equipment Resource Inc., Dallas, Tex. (OGJ Online, May 7, 2001). The purchase price was not disclosed.
Corridor Resources Inc., Halifax, NS, says it is continuing drilling at its McCully No. 3 well after encountering natural gas and experiencing drilling problems in the upper Albert formation. The onshore well near Sussex, New Brunswick, encountered sloughing shales near the top of the Albert formation which stuck the drillstring at a depth of 7,874 ft. The string has been recovered and the hole is being reamed back before logging and installation of a casing liner. Drilling is continuing to target depth of 8,858 ft.
Promax Energy Inc., Calgary, said so far this year it has drilled and cased 24 Paleozoic test wells and 65 Medicine Hat/Milk River test wells, of which 55 are adjacent to current production. This represents 40% of the total drilling planned for 2001. Average drilled and cased costs to date in 2001 are $150,500 for the Paleo wells and $75,413 for the MH/MR wells. Costs in May are 5% below the average to date and are anticipated to fall by another 10-15% as the economies of scale are realized, said Promax.
