CPG position in ARN/SCSHere is the news posted below:
CALGARY, July 14, 2011 /CNW/ - Crescent Point Energy Corp. ("Crescent Point" or the "Company") is pleased to announce its land position in Alberta's emerging Beaverhill 
light oil resource play.
Over the past 18 months and through a series of joint ventures, farm-ins and Crown land sales, Crescent Point has accumulated more than 380 (165 net) sections of land highly prospective for the Beaverhill Lake zone in the Swan Hills area. The majority of the lands were acquired in a joint venture with Coral Hill Energy Ltd. ("Coral Hill") through Crown sales by way of exploration licences, which have a nine-year development term with minimal drilling requirements to hold the lands.
Included in the above land totals are a farm-in agreement and a joint venture agreement that Crescent Point and Coral Hill have entered into with Second Wave Petroleum Inc. ("Second Wave"). Under the terms of the farm-in and net to the Company, Crescent Point has agreed to pay 57% of the drilling and completion costs of up to 13 earning wells, to earn a 40% working interest in approximately 78 (31 net) sections of highly prospective Beaverhill Lake rights. The first two farm-in wells of this commitment have been drilled and have shown very encouraging initial results.
To date, Crescent Point has spent approximately $70 million in the area, including land and development costs. Of this amount, approximately $40 million has been spent thus far in 2011.
To date and including the farm-in wells described above, a total of 8 (3.0 net) wells have been successfully drilled, and the Company currently has four drilling rigs in operation in the Beaverhill Lake light resource play. Three of the wells have been completed and put on production, with average first-month production rates exceeding 1,000 bopd gross. These rates are in excess of the Company's internally estimated average type well curve, which predicts first-month average production of 295 bopd. The Company's internal average type well curve generates a half-cycle rate of return of approximately 75 percent with a payout of 15 months under current commodity prices.
The Company is currently reviewing its capital program for the remainder of the year. With continued success of the Beaverhill Lake exploration program, the Company could spend up to an additional $100 million on capital expenditures in the play this year. This level of spending could increase the drilling rig count from four to eight and could result in the drilling of up to 35 gross additional wells.
This level of spending would be incremental to the Company's original $800 million 2011 capital development budget.
"As a company, we continuously search for new oil resource opportunities to drive our future long-term growth. We've been working on building this Beaverhill Lake land base with our partner for almost two years and are excited about our drilling results to date, as well as the compelling economics in this emerging light oil resource play," said Scott Saxberg, president and CEO of Crescent Point. "We're currently evaluating our capital budget and, with the success we've seen in this play, will likely increase spending in the Swan Hills area."
Crescent Point plans to review its 2011 capital program in the third quarter, incorporating Beaverhill Lake drilling success, and expects that a revised capital program will be approved and announced during the third quarter.
Crescent Point is also pleased to announce that it has acquired ownership of 8,000,000 common shares of Arcan Resources Ltd. ("Arcan"), which is a leading Beaverhill Lake producer, at an effective price of $5.08 per Arcan share. These shares, which represent 9% of the issued and outstanding common shares of Arcan, were acquired through the facilities of the TSX Venture Exchange. As a result of the acquisition of the Arcan shares, Crescent Point now has ownership and control over 16,750,000 common shares of Arcan, representing approximately 19% of the issued and outstanding common shares of Arcan, as of the date hereof, on a non-diluted basis. An Early Warning Report respecting this acquisition has been filed on the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Review ("SEDAR") and can be viewed at www.sedar.com. Crescent Point acquired the Arcan shares for investment purposes only. The investments will be reviewed on a continual basis, and Crescent Point's holdings may be increased or decreased in the future, depending upon economic or market conditions or matters relating to Arcan.