Since 1999, we have focused primarily in
Matagorda County, the location of the Providence Field, and in Brooks
County, the location of the Encinitas Field.
As of March 1, 2004, we have identified
over 23 exploratory drilling locations with an additional 12 potential
extension opportunities (depending on the success of our initial
drilling activities on those locations) in the Frio/ Vicksburg trend
area over which we have licenses for 3-D seismic data and leased
acreage. Approximately 15 of the 23 exploratory locations we have
identified are relatively lower risk and generally shallower with
the remaining eight being relatively higher risk and deeper with
greater upside potential.
From January 1, 2000 through December
31, 2003, we drilled and completed 38 wells (10.0 net) in 45 attempts
in this trend. We incurred capital expenditures of $6.6 million
and drilled 16 wells (3.4 net) in the Frio/ Vicksburg trend area
in 2003 and expect to devote approximately $11.6 million to drill
14 wells (5.4 net) in this area in 2004.
Providence Field. We have licenses
for over 540 square miles of 3-D data (including 450 square miles
of newly reprocessed data delivered in 2003) in and surrounding
the Providence Field we discovered in 2001. Since the discovery
well commenced production in January 2002, five wells have been
drilled and successfully completed. Four of the wells had average
production rates ranging from 14,309 to 17,669 Mcfe per day per
well during the first 90 full days of production. The field has
cumulative production as of December 31, 2003 of 11.3 Bcfe. We have
working interests ranging from 35% to 45% in the leases in this
field and operate three of the six wells. We anticipate participating
in two additional extension wells (1.0 net) in the field in second
quarter 2004.
Encinitas Field. This field, the
site of our first 3-D seismic survey in 1995, has 24 wells currently
producing. Since 1996, we have participated in the drilling of 24
wells (4.0 net) in this area, 22 (3.5 net) of which were successfully
completed. During 2003, we participated in the drilling of nine
wells, all of which were successfully completed. We expect to drill
between four and eight wells in 2004, with an additional six to
10 well locations to be drilled thereafter. We will have a 27.5%
working interest in those wells.
SOUTHEAST TEXAS AREAS
The Southeast Texas area contains similar
objective levels found in the Frio/Vicksburg/Yegua trend area. We
separate this as a focus area because of the geographic concentration
of our 3-D seismic data and because reservoirs in this area can
display seismic amplitude anomalies. Seismic amplitude anomalies
can be interpreted as an indicator of hydrocarbons, although these
anomalies are not necessarily reliable as to hydrocarbon presence
or productivity. We have acquired licenses for approximately 834
square miles of 3-D data (including 400 square miles of newly released
data delivered in 2003) over our Southeast Texas project area which
is focused primarily on the Frio, Yegua, Cook Mountain and Vicksburg
formations. The project area is split into the Cedar Point and Liberty
County areas.
As of March 1, 2004, we have identified
over 15 exploratory drilling locations with an additional 10 potential
extension locations in the Southeast Texas area over which we have
licenses for 3-D seismic data. Approximately 12 of the 15 exploratory
locations we have identified are relatively lower risk and generally
shallower with the remaining three being relatively higher risk
and deeper with greater upside potential.
From January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2003,
we participated in the drilling and completion of 12 wells (4.3
net) in 17 attempts in this area. We incurred capital expenditures
of $4.5 million and drilled five wells (1.3 net) in the Southeast
Texas area in 2003 and expect to devote approximately $9.8 million
and drilled nine wells (3.6 net) in this area in 2004. The Liberty
Project Area and Cedar Point Project Area have proven to be successful
for us, and we expect that the Liberty Project Area will constitute
a significant portion of our drilling program for 2004.
Cedar Point
The Cedar Point Project Area is located
in Chambers County, Texas, adjacent to Trinity Bay. The 30-square-mile
3-D survey targets the lower Frio and Vicksburg formations. Since
1999, five of six wells drilled have been successful. In 2003, we
drilled one well that produced an average of 15,789 Mcfe per day
during the first 90 full days of production. In December 2003, we
completed an extension well that encountered approximately 41 feet
of logged pay. Our working interest in leases in this project area
is approximately 28% in the first well drilled in 2003 and 25% in
the extension well.
Liberty
We have identified and leased prospects
ranging from the Frio to the Cook Mountain formations within the
500 square miles of 3-D seismic data in the Liberty Project Area
which, along with 290
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