By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, June 19 -- Three or more wells could be drilled later this year in northwestern California's remote Eel River basin southeast of Eureka.
Bakersfield, Calif.-based Foothills Resources Inc., which is averaging 395 Mcfd of gas from two wells in Grizzly Bluff field in Humboldt County, said a rig is expected to arrive in mid-August in the basin, where the company shot 13 sq miles of 3D seismic early this year (OGJ Online, Jan. 12, 2007). Foothills is sharing rig-move expense with another operator.
Foothills plans to drill one well to shallow Anderson sand, one to intermediate depth Pliocene Lower Rio Dell, and one to test the deeper Grizzly Bear exploratory prospect.
It also plans to reenter the Vicenus 1-3, drilled to TD 5,747 ft in 2006. The well found gas in multiple zones at 4,300-5,700 ft, and the primary objective had to be cemented off after encountering an overpressured gas zone in the Lower Rio Dell. The well was completed in shallower Rio Dell sands.
Foothills also accumulated a controlling leasehold position 7 miles northwest of Grizzly Bluff near abandoned Table Bluff gas field, where it has a high-quality prospect supported by a direct hydrocarbon indicator. The company is integrating its geologic mapping with 2D seismic and data from wells drilled in the area.