Palo Duro Energy Inc., Vancouver, BC, said it is preparing an exploration program for fall in the Palo Duro basin using proprietary electromagnetic technologies.
Drilling will target Pennsylvanian and Permian reefs similar to those that have produced oil and gas at Wolf Flat and Gupton fields in Motley County, Tex. The company said the reefs are interpreted as forming along ancestral shelf margins of Canyon, Cisco, and Wolfcamp ages that developed in the central Palo Duro basin.
Other potential targets are Pennsylvanian (Atoka) quartz sandstones, such as those that yield gas at Rhombochasm field on trend with Palo Duro Energy’s acreage (OGJ, June 8, 2001, p. 32).
The sands are interpreted to have been shed from the Amarillo-Wichita and Red River uplifts.
The company expects structural and stratigraphic traps. Source rocks are anticipated to be the underlying Lower Pennsylvanian (Atoka) shales being evaluated as fractured shale reservoirs in the Palo Duro basin by several companies, including Palo Duro Energy’s partner, Bankers Petroleum Corp., Calgary.
Important shows and test rates have been encountered from many wells drilled in the Bend shale play in the past several years.
Numerous exploratory wells have encountered gas and oil shows in both the limestone formations and channelized sandstones, which indicates that the hydrocarbons generated from the Pennsylvanian shales have migrated along pathways, such as faults and fractures, into the younger rocks, the company said.
Palo Duro Energy is exploring for the traps that would have had sufficient sealing conditions to contain the hydrocarbons. The company is optimistic that the conventional prospects have large unrealized potential and will supplement the Bend shale resource play.
Palo Duro Energy, with an operations office in Houston, holds 27% interest in more than 400,000 net acres in the Palo Duro basin.
