Tri link announces oil discovery south of Montmartre
On Dec. 3 Tri Link Resources Ltd. announced oil reserves expected to exceed 100 million barrels have been discovered roughly eight miles south of Montmartre. The announcement comes approximately one month after the Weyburn Review reported a new oilfield lies north of the Weyburn.
Nineteen wells have been drilled with at least three drilling rigs planning to work in the area until March.
The drilling in the area has brought 15 wells into production with another nine coming on stream. Tri Link also reports one battery facility is under construction while another is to be added in early 1999. The total current production from these wells now exceeds 1,500 barrels a day.
In a news release issued on Dec. 3, Tri Link president Gary Burns said the discoveries have provided Tri Link with a foundation for future growth.
"I believe we have discovered what will be one of the largest assets in Tri Link's corporate history," said Burns.
Dale Brenner, administrator for the R.M. and village of Montmartre says the announcement is good news for the Montmartre area. "All this action has been since the spring of 1998. That's when we had all this seismic running through. They pumped a lot of money into the surrounding area - close to $20 million dollars was spent around Montmartre and Tyvan and they're putting in pipelines already to that one battery station." Brenner adds the first applications for boring the grid roads came through roughly a month to six weeks ago.
Brenner also said SaskPower has put in a lot of three-phase power. "It's the only way they can run these big generators with three-phased power. I have a feeling they're hear to stay," said Brenner.
Brenner's feeling was confirmed by J. Bernie McCashin, executive vice president for Tri Link.
McCashin said through water injection the company expects to recover up to 25 per cent of the reserves - close to 25 million barrels, which could provide the company overall project revenues of close to $350 million at $14 per barrel (WTI). Tri Link is also reporting full-cycle finding and on-stream costs are expected to be under $5 per barrel, which local oilmen say is an exceptional price.
But McCashin disagrees, stipulating the historic average for Tri Link's recovery costs is less than $5 per barrel.
Despite the encouraging results, Saskatchewan Energy and Mines executive director, Bruce Wilson, was reluctant to place an approximate value on the royalties which the province may garner through the new find.
"Some of these deeper pools do tend to be much more prolific. Some may decline very rapidly. We don't have the kind of information yet to know how they're going to perform," said Wilson.
Saskatchewan's minister of Energy and Mines, Eldon Lautermilch, agreed with Wilson, saying it was too early to predict the royalties for the province, he added however, the announcement was positive.
"It's encouraging from the perspective of the discovery being in a deeper play outside the normal area," said Lautermilch. The minister added the announcement adds credence to the province's decision to revert deeper-drilling rights.
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