By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, July 21 -- Marathon Oil Corp. plans to drill 700 wells in 10 years in the Piceance basin of Colorado on a lease covering 8,700 net acres acquired from Petroleum Development Corp. for $354 million.
The acreage is in Garfield County, Colo., in Greater Grand Valley field. Marathon believes its drilling program could add nearly 180 MMcfd net of gas production by 2014, with net resources estimated at more than 900 bcf. Production is anticipated in late 2007.
The primary reservoir is the Williams Fork formation of the Mesaverde Group, a massive 1,300 ft sequence of stacked overpressured channel sands in a continuous gas accumulation. The target reservoir depth is 6,500-8,500 ft.