More Rawlins Uplift Exploration Planned

Carbon County, Wyoming

Houston-based Reliance Resources (Reliance) is planning more exploration on the Rawlins Uplift in the northwestern corner of Carbon County, Wyoming. The company is proposing to drill a 4,500’ vertical Dakota test at the Stone Creek State #16-1, ne-nw 16-25n-87w. This pending exploration, which represents the firm’s fourth vertical wildcat in this nonproducing township, scales some 24 miles north of Rawlins, Wyo., and is still awaiting state approval.

The nearest exploration to the Stone Creek State #16-1 is almost a mile to the northeast at Mountain States Drilling’s Government #1, se-nw 9-25n-87w. This Pennsylvanian Tensleep probe achieved a total depth of 6,028’. A drillstem test in the Third Frontier from 3,147’ to 3,199’ had gas-to-surface in 50 minutes gauged at 75 mcfg. A second DST in the Muddy near 3,700’ had gas-to-surface gauged at 50 mcfg. The company ran 7-in. casing to 3,800’ and perforated the Muddy interval at 3,680’–3,800’, recovering only water and mud. The attempt was abandoned in 1953. Log tops of this dry hole include the Niobrara at 2,380’, Frontier at 2,500’, Muddy at 3,700’, Dakota at 3,840’, Nugget at 4,307’, and the Tensleep came in at 5,908’ beneath a ground elevation of 6,789’.

Another Tensleep test drilled in this area is roughly 2 miles northeast of the Stone Creek State #16-1 at Beren Corporation’s Buzzard Federal #1, ne-nw 11-25n-87w. This failure bottomed in the Tensleep at a depth of 6,442’ and was abandoned in 1975 with no production tests performed. The company conducted a drillstem test in the Muddy at 4,093’ and two additional DSTs in the Tensleep near 6,360’. No significant recoveries were reported, and the attempt was plugged.

As mentioned, the Stone Creek State #16-1 represents the fourth exploratory well planned by the Texas firm within this township. Less than 2 miles northeast of their ­pending venture, Reliance plans to drill the Stone Creek State #10-1, ne-nw 10-25n-87w, a Lower Cretaceous well that will evaluate the Dakota at a depth of 4,500’.

Some 4 miles southwest of their Stone Creek State #16-1, Reliance had earlier staked a wildcat at the Stone Creek State #30-1, se-nw 30-25n-87w. This 4,500’ Dakota test spots roughly 2.5 miles northwest of shallow gas production at Separation Flats Field, a structural/stratigraphic–type trap that has produced from the Dakota, Frontier, and currently the Muddy. Following its discovery in 1964, this gas reservoir has cumulated more than 3.64 bcfg from depths near 2,800’.

The nearest exploration to the Stone Creek State #30-1 is 1.5 miles to the southwest at a dry hole drilled more than 85 years ago. Operated by Production Service and Equipment, the Government #1, se-nw 1-24n-88w, bottomed in the Upper Cretaceous Steele at a depth of 536’. No production tests were conducted in this well, and it was abandoned in 1928.

The final prospect planned by Reliance in this township is 3 miles south of the Stone Creek State #16-1 location at the Stone Creek Federal #28-1, sw-sw 28-25n-87w. Set up as a 4,400’ Dakota wildcat, this well is roughly 2.5 miles northeast of the aforementioned Separation Flats Field.

The nearest established production to Reliance’s latest staking is almost 4 miles to the northwest at Mahoney Dome Field, an anticlinal structure that currently has output from both the Dakota and Tensleep. Discovered in 1919, this oil pool has produced more than 7 mmbo and 183 mmcfg.