Illinois: Horizontal well eyed in dolomite below New Albany

March 18, 2013
Strata-X Energy Ltd., Golden, Colo., plans to drill a horizontal well in the Illinois basin to test for oil in an undisclosed dolomitic formation below the Devonian New Albany shale.

Strata-X Energy Ltd., Golden, Colo., plans to drill a horizontal well in the Illinois basin to test for oil in an undisclosed dolomitic formation below the Devonian New Albany shale.

The company doesn’t reveal the precise location of its Vail oil project for competitive reasons but said it holds 100% interest in 46,300 net acres in what it interprets as an unconventional continuous oil accumulation. If an application to drill is approved, it would spud the well in the second quarter of 2013.

The company described the proposed well as to have a 4,300-ft horizontal leg at 4,500 ft true vertical depth and said it is acquiring seismic to help with geosteering.

The dolomitic reservoir is interpreted to extend over 500 sq miles at 3,500-5,000 ft based on an in-house analysis of 120 historic wells that intersected the reservoir, the company said. It cited geologic studies that indicate that the New Albany shale has expelled more than 300 billion bbl of oil, of which more than 4 billion bbl have been produced from shallower formations.