By the OGJ Online Staff
FORT WORTH, July 19 -- PanCanadian Petroleum Ltd. and MGV Energy Inc., the Canadian subsidiary of Quicksilver Resources Inc., said Thursday their coalbed methane joint venture will begin drilling pilot wells in the fall.
The CBM program, the largest so far in Canada, has drilled 21 exploration wells of a planned 50. These wells are being tested and evaluated.
PanCanadian said, "In CBM exploration, it is common for successful exploration wells to be followed by a pilot program in which an additional group of new wells are drilled in the vicinity of an exploration well."
The companies have doubled the CBM joint venture's capital program to more than $30 million (Can.).
Mike Gatens, MGV chairman and CEO, said, "Preliminary results of the exploration wells have encouraged us to proceed to the pilot phase on some of the exploration wells to further evaluate the development potential of this vast resource in Alberta. The upcoming pilot program represents the first set of multiple pilots drilled in Canada as part of a commercial venture."
The companies formed the CBM joint venture last Nov. 1 to explore 1 million acres on the Palliser block in southern Alberta.