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UPDA To Acquire 110,000 Acres in Cherokee Basin Region


WEBWIRE

DENVER - Universal Property Development and Acquisition Corporation has executed a letter of intent to acquire oil and gas leases covering approximately one million acres in Kansas. While these natural gas leases are not limited in depth, the acquisition will establish UPDA as one of the largest coalbed methane developers in the state of Kansas.

Approximately 113,000 of the acres to be acquired are located on the Bourbon Arch, a northern extension of the Cherokee Basin. Included are four active production batteries spanning across the Bourbon Arch and defining a 12 mile long project area. Completed intervals range from 400 to 1000 feet deep, with production gathered and handled at facilities common to each area.

UPDA intends to establish an aggressive drilling program in this area, completing a minimum of 100 wells within the year. In addition, UPDA will extend the gathering system and pipeline in order to efficiently bring the production market.

“Coalbed methane is the natural gas that lies trapped in coal seams at shallow depths. It is different from other resources because it is both generated and stored within the coalbeds themselves. It also is an attractive resource because it occurs within coal, which is the most abundant fuel in the United States,” said Patrick Leahy, associate director of geology for the U.S. Geological Survey, at the congressional briefing. "Coal acts like a sponge, storing six times the volume of natural gas found in conventional reservoirs,” Leahy explained.

“Coal underlies the eastern quarter of Kansas, in both the Cherokee and Forest City basins,” says Larry Brady, geologist, Kansas Geological Survey. The region is blessed with as many as 17 separate coal seams, ranging in depth from the surface to 2,000 feet. They do not attain the tremendous thicknesses that are common in the Rocky Mountain basins, however.

The typical Cherokee Basin well is drilled on 80-acre spacing. Sustained initial production rates vary from 10,000 to 150,000 cubic feet per day, and water production will kick off at 10 to 70 barrels per day per well. As the wells are dewatered, gas production increases. The water is pumped into disposal wells, usually in the Arbuckle Formation. According to the Kansas Geologic Survey, the average coalbed-methane well in southeastern Kansas can produce 60 million cubic feet of gas during a two-year period.

In addition to the 113,000 acres in the Cherokee basin, UPDA intends to acquire rights in the Forest City Basin, including leases totaling 766,000 acres, dozens of well bores, surface equipment, gathering and surface facilities, as well as all geological, engineering, land and accounting data and records relating to this property. These leases are generally long term in nature, allowing UPDA to schedule a secondary drilling program upon completion of the program in the Cherokee Basin.



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