Corridor Completes Drilling At Third McCully Well And Commences Second Copper Mine Hill Well
Halifax, Nova Scotia, July 31, 2001: Corridor Resources Inc. (CDH - CDNX) announced today that operations at the McCully #3 (P-56) well have been suspended after the well reached a total depth of 3258 metres. The well encountered more than 250 metres of over-pressured natural gas bearing sands with varying amounts of bitumen and cementation. The sands are inter-bedded with shales in a gross Albert section of 900 metres between the depths of 1900 and 2700 metres, and include the same sand sequence as that encountered in the McCully #1 and #2 wells. The well has been logged and cased to 2792 metres in preparation for future well stimulation operations. The drilling rig is being moved to drill the McCully #4 (C-75) well, located approximately 4.5 kilometres southwest of the McCully #1 discovery well. Corridor is the operator and Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc. (PCS) is Corridor's 50% partner in the McCully wells.
Plans are to conduct a multi-staged frac job on McCully wells later this year (excluding McCully wells #1 and #2, which are dedicated to local markets). It is expected that frac stimulation will result in well production rates significantly greater than can be achieved in non-stimulated wells. McCully #3 will be the first well to be completed in this manner, and production from this and future wells is aimed at developing a threshold total production rate to commercially justify a pipeline tie-in to markets through the Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline system.
Corridor has re-tested the McCully #1 discovery well at a sustained production rate of 750,000 cubic feet per day at a flowing wellhead pressure of 1700 pounds per square inch (psi). This re-test was undertaken without re-working the down-hole completion at this time. The McCully #1 and #2 wells together have a combined initial production capacity (non-stimulated) of more than 5 million cubic feet per day (mmcfpd) at a design separator pressure of 500 psi, more than enough production to meet initial local market requirements.
Corridor also announces that operations have commenced at the Copper Mine Hill #2 well, located approximately 10 kilometres north of Sackville, New Brunswick. Columbia Natural Resources Canada, Ltd. is the operator of the well and Corridor is a 50% working interest partner. The well is being drilled to follow up on a corehole (CMH #1) drilled earlier this year by Corridor and Columbia and which encountered significant shows of natural gas in the Hillsborough formation. The well is being drilled with a conventional rig to a planned total depth of 3000 metres to evaluate both the Hillsborough formation and the underlying Albert formation (the productive horizon at the McCully discovery located approximately 80 kilometres to the west). The well is expected to be completed by mid September.
Corridor is a junior oil and gas exploration company, headquartered in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with interests onshore in New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Quebec and offshore in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
Columbia Natural Resources Canada, Ltd. is a Canadian subsidiary of Columbia Energy Resources, Inc. (CER), the exploration, production and gathering company of NiSource Inc. (NYSE - NI). CER is a leading producer of natural gas and oil in the Appalachian Basin and eastern Canada. Columbia Natural Resources Canada, Ltd. is based in Fredericton, New Brunswick.
Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc. is a publicly traded company on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges.
This press release contains certain forward looking statements relating to, but not limited to, Corridor's operations, anticipated financial performance, business prospects and strategies, including expectations relating to production levels; capital expenditure programs; the quantity of natural gas reserves; projections of market prices; projections of costs; supply and demand for natural gas; expectations regarding the ability to raise capital and to continually add to reserves through exploration and development; and treatment under governmental regulatory regimes. These statements are based on current expectations that involve numerous assumptions regarding factors and risks that could cause actual results to vary materially, including, without limitation to, the following factors: risks associated with oil and gas exploration, financial risks, substantial capital requirements, bank financing, government regulation, environmental, prices, markets and marketing, dependence on key personnel, dependence on Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan, Inc., availability of drilling equipment and access, risks may not be insurable, management of growth, expiration of licenses and leases, reserves estimates, seasonality, competition, conflicts of interest, Kyoto Protocol, issuance of debt, title to properties and hedging. There is no representation by Corridor that actual results achieved will be the same in whole or in part as those set out in the forward looking information. Furthermore, the forward looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date hereof, and Corridor undertakes no obligation, except as required by applicable securities legislation, to update publicly or to revise any of the included forward looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
