Drilling Permit Roundup: Flurry of new oil wells for San Antonio independents
August 21, 2018Drilling Permit Roundup: Flurry of new oil wells for San Antonio independents
Aug 21, 2018, 5:29am CDT
They’re small, independent and drilling for oil throughout Texas — four San Antonio-area oil companies seeking permission to tap various geological formations.
San Antonio-based Millennium Exploration Co. LLC leads this pack with its third drilling permit application submitted to the Railroad Commission of Texas in 2018. The latest is for a new directional well on its Gemini lease in Wharton County off FM 442 about 7 miles southeast of the city of Wharton.
Millennium’s drilling project targets the Wildcat field to a depth of 6,500 feet. The new well and another drilling permit filed for the Gemini lease last month are the first of three two-well prospects that the company plans to drill on the land this year, Millennium President Richard Monroy told the Business Journal. In the meantime, two-well prospects for the company’s Opus and Phoenix leases are expected to be drilled in the fourth quarter.
“Millennium has succeeded in positioning itself to aggressively develop its extensive portfolio of prime drilling prospects in anticipation of the inevitable rise of oil and gas prices,” Monroy said.
Boerne-based Faith Petroleum A Texas LP has filed the first drilling permit under its name. Founded by E.P. McCall in May 2011, Faith Petroleum is seeking permission to drill a new vertical well in the Texas Panhandle. The company plans to drill a 7,000-foot well targeting the Wildcat field on its McWilliams lease in Briscoe County.
San Antonio-based Hellifino Operating LLC, founded by local lawyer F. Blake Dietzmann in June, is seeking permission to re-enter a pair of oil wells in the Edwards Plateau. The permit applications represent the oil company’s first drilling project. The vertical wells were previously drilled to a depth of 3,800 feet by Midland-based Marshall & Winston Inc. in 1992 and 1993.
Vantage Operating LLC is seeking permission to drill a new vertical gas well just northeast of Houston. The San Antonio-based company is targeting the Rich Ranch field of the Yegua geological layer to a depth of 12,600 feet on its Governor Bill Daniel Sect 161 lease in Liberty County. The project marks the second drilling permit for Vantage, founded by Justin Little in January 2016.