Western Newfoundland exploration pending

By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Sept. 11 -- A group led by provincial firm Nalcor Energy is selecting drillsites for as many as three wells in western Newfoundland’s Parsons Pond area.

Nalcor Energy, which will spend as much as $20 million, acquired from Leprechaun Resources Ltd. an average 67% working interest in three onshore drilling permits 280 miles northwest of St. John’s.

The 03-101, 03-102, and 03-103 permits total 103,000 acres. Holding the other interests in the permits are Vulcan Minerals Inc., Investcan Energy Corp., and Deer Lake Oil & Gas Inc. Canadian Imperial Venture Corp., St. John’s, plans to acquire a 1.5% gross overriding royalty interest in 03-101 and 03-103 from Tectonics Inc., Calgary.

Nalcor Energy’s project “would be the first program designed to test the deeper and larger prospects in the Cambrian Ordovician carbonate platform in the Parson’s Pond area, and according to an independent assessment, the Nalcor properties have the potential to contain an aggregate of 284 million bbl of oil in place,” CIVC said.

CIVC pointed out that western Newfoundland’s Shoal Point and Parson’s Pond areas have had intermittent production between 1895 and 1925 of a cumulative 10,000 bbl of oil.

CIVC said it is working with its partners to design an exploration program to test the Green Point shale formation on EL 1070 at Shoal Point, where consulting engineers assessed the potential at 1-2 billion bbl of oil in place.