Production exceeded expectations with more than 2.1 billion cubic feet of gas produced in the first six months. Now, based on the well's success, UPR is drilling two new horizontal wells into the same formation in the Greater Green River Basin.
Additional wells are likely in the coming year.
The drilling success is especially important given the results of a year-long study by the National Petroleum Council. The study was presented to the Energy Department on December 15, 1999. It could include gas from tight sands, shales, and coal seams. Prior to the Energy Department's Greater Green River Basin Production Improvement Project, which began in 1995, very little work had been done to define the geologic and production characteristics of the tight, fractured Frontier Formation in the Greater Green River Basin. The gas-bearing play covers 900 square miles and has potentially huge reserves.