Local Driller Not Dissuaded By Oil Downturn

A San Antonio-based company has put two oil and gas wells online in Gonzales County in spite of the oil industry’s current state.

Millennium PetroCapital Corp. is producing on two wells in the Austin Chalk formation that were completed in May and June, the company announced this week. Millennium owns a 75% stake in the wells alongside its private equity partners. Its subsidiary, Millennium Exploration Co. LLC, is responsible for overseeing the wells’ production.

The company said it plans to drill six more wells this year across a 7,200-acre area, though it wasn’t clear whether all those wells were planned for South Texas or if some would be along the Gulf Coast, the other major area that Millennium develops. Besides the two wells in Gonzales County, Millennium has received a permit this year to drill along the Gulf Coast in Jackson County, according to the Railroad Commission of Texas.

The company didn’t respond to a request for further information.

Millennium put the wells online despite the oil and gas market being down, with North American oil futures currently trading below $40 per barrel and falling as low as $20 in May.

Like another small independent, Schertz-based Tidal Petroleum Inc., Millennium is drilling to take advantage of low contractor costs, CEO Richard Monroy said.

“With two successful completions by spring, we are well on our way to exceeding this year’s production goals,” Monroy said in a statement. “And by drilling two more wells this year, we can also capitalize on lower-cost operations and ready availability of key vendors created by the current state of oil prices.”