Gas DiscoveryThis news of a potentially huge gas discovery augers well for companies exploring for hydrocarbons in Eastern Canada.Interesting to note that Corridor made this discovery in the same age rocks that Vulcan is chasing in the St. Georges Basin on NFld's West Coast.This appears to certainly heighten the interest and prospects for similar success in the West Coast area.
Corridor completes initial analysis of natural gas discovery at McCully
HALIFAX, Dec. 12 /CNW/ - Corridor Resources Inc. (CDH - CDNX) confirmed
today that it has completed an initial analysis of the McCully natural gas
discovery first announced on September 20th, 2000. The McCully well data,
combined with 3-D and 2-D seismic data, indicate the McCully field is
potentially a major natural gas discovery. Corridor and Potash Corporation of
Saskatchewan Inc. (PCS) are equal partners in the McCully well, which is
located 12 kilometers northeast of Sussex, New Brunswick. The well reached a
total depth of 2657 meters in October and was production tested in November.
Initial analyses of well logs, production tests and 3-D seismic data indicate
in-place natural gas reserves possibly in excess of 300 billion cubic feet
(BCF) within the McCully Joint Venture area (4 sections or 3550 acres). "The
McCully discovery appears to be much larger than anything we expected onshore
in the Maritimes" said Norm Miller, Corridor's president. "It signals an
exciting new exploration play for New Brunswick". However, Mr. Miller
cautioned that the well completion design required to turn the McCully well
into a natural gas producer has not as yet been finalised, and it will be
necessary to drill several step-out wells before the commercial value of the
McCully discovery can be determined.
The McCully well encountered more than 40 meters of net natural gas
bearing sand within a 340 meter gross sand/shale sequence between the depths
of 2030 meters and 2370 meters. Within this section, the bottom sand of the
sequence has 22 meters of net pay in a relatively continuous vertical
sequence. The sands have low porosities and permeabilities and lie within the
Albert Formation (Mississippian). The well was air drilled to a depth of 2389
meters and flowed natural gas at a rate of 2.4 million cubic feet per day
during drilling operations. Below 2389 meters, the well was drilled using a
conventional heavy drilling mud. The formation is over-pressured, with the
pressure in the main gas-bearing reservoir indicated to be greater than 4100
pounds per square inch (psi), or 600 psi greater than the normal reservoir
pressure for this depth. During production testing operations, the bottom sand
flowed natural gas at a rate of 750,000 cubic feet per day and no water for
three days. Adams Pearson Associates Inc. (APA) of Calgary, Alberta have
undertaken a preliminary analysis of the flow and pressure data from this
test, confirming the high reservoir pressure and no indication of reservoir
depletion. APA's analysis also indicated that the reservoir was damaged during
drilling operations and should be capable of higher rates of production than
were achieved during the initial production test. An attempt to hydraulically
fracture the reservoir was unsuccessful and current plans are to re-complete
the well as a "barefoot" producer. The natural gas is of good quality, with
minor traces of carbon dioxide and no hydrogen sulfide.
The McCully prospect is a large, anticlinal structure with simple 4-way
closure, covering an area of at least 7,000 acres. In addition, the overlying
Hillsborough unconformity provides a regional stratigraphic trap across this
prospect. Reprocessed 2-D seismic indicates the field extends west, north and
east of the 4-section Joint Venture lands onto lands held 100% by Corridor.
The prospect also extends to the south, where on December 7th Corridor and PCS
jointly (50/50) were the successful tenderers ($4.63 million spending
commitment) for an exploration licence covering 14,784 hectares, including the
southern flank of the McCully field. At the same time, Corridor was the
successful tenderer for three new exploration licences (100% Corridor) located
to the west of McCully, adding 43,107 hectares to Corridor's existing 52,000
hectares (100% Corridor) lying to the north of the discovery area.
The McCully discovery is located approximately 35 miles from the
Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline which currently delivers natural gas from
offshore fields in the Sable Island area to markets in the Maritimes and New
England. Future drilling plans at McCully will be aimed at proving sufficient
reserves to economically justify the development of pipeline infrastructure to
transport McCully gas to both local markets and markets served by the
Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline system. Corridor and PCS plan to commence the
drilling of the first step-out well on joint venture lands in mid January,
2001.
Corridor is a junior oil and gas exploration company, headquartered in
Halifax, Nova Scotia, with interests in more than 5 million acres of petroleum
exploration licences in Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward
Island and Newfoundland.
The Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc. is a public company trading
on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges.
The CDNX has neither approved or disapproved the information contained
herein.
To view a copy of the McCully Map, please visit
https://files.newswire.ca/96/corridormap.jpg
For further information: Corridor Resources Inc., No. 301, 5475 Spring
Garden Road, Phone: (902) 429-4511, Fax: (902) 422-6715, Halifax, Nova Scotia,
B3J 3T2, Email: nmiller@corridor.ns, Web: www.corridor.ns.ca; Contact:
Norman Miller, President