CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwire - Jan. 12, 2009) -
NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION ON U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES
Questerre Energy Corporation ("Questerre" or the "Company") (TSX:QEC)(OSLO:QEC) reported today that drilling operations have been successfully completed on the St. David well in the St. Lawrence Lowlands, Quebec.
Drilled to a target depth of 1995m on schedule and budget, St. David is the third well in the four-well farm-in program. The well has been cased as a potential gas producer. St. David was recently logged to evaluate the Utica and Lorraine shale/siltstone zones and the Trenton Black-River group. An analysis of these logs is ongoing to select prospective intervals for stimulation and testing.
Subject to equipment availability, completion and testing will commence after spring break-up. The Company expects the operator will spud the fourth and final well in the program, St. Edouard, in late February.
Questerre also reported on the status of the La Visitation and Gentilly wells in the Lowlands. Completion operations with multiple fracs on the recently drilled La Visitation well are currently underway. On the Gentilly well, the operational issues surrounding the packer have been resolved in order to allow testing of the Lorraine to resume shortly. Questerre anticipates preliminary results from these wells will be available during the second quarter.
Michael Binnion, President and Chief Executive Officer of Questerre, commented, "Drilling results on St. David were very positive as we saw promising gas shows in the Utica and Lorraine." Mr. Binnion also commented, "The pilot programs in the Lowlands are rapidly ramping up with several operations underway simultaneously. All these operations are designed to provide extensive technical data critical to assessing the commerciality of the play. We are very pleased that the operator does not compromise in this regard. We believe we remain on track to have an adequate sample of quality results to make a preliminary assessment of the commerciality of the Quebec shales in 2009."
Questerre is a Calgary-based independent