Strategic American Oil, www.strategicamericanoil.com – the growth-stage oil and natural gas explorer/producer with major operations in Texas, Louisiana and Illinois, today reported identification of a new oil drilling target in the Illinois Basin at Pinnacle Reef.
The P4 Reef Prospect, as it has been named, is at depths from 2-2.5k ft, and was developed via coal exploration data in conjunction with Illinois State Geologic Survey (ISGS) information.
Plans are for SGCA to lease some 600 acres over the prospect and then begin a drilling program with the goal of evaluating subsurface geology.
Data generated from coal drilling indicates a massive reduction in the thickness of the #6 coal seam under the prospect, and this data correlates with historic oil drilling data from productive oil operations in pinnacle reefs in Illinois, leading to a solid conclusion regarding the thinning of coal above the rigid reef structures.
CEO of SGCA, Jeremy Driver, said the new drilling target helps fill out the Company’s Illinois Basin development plans nicely, and cited ISGS analysis, which projects an average of 2.5-3.2M barrels of recoverable oil, making it an exciting play for SGCA and its shareholders.
Driver noted the outstanding progress of SGCA to a point where the Company can shift more of its focus from leasing to drilling, and cited ongoing discussions with several potential joint-venture partners that would help expedite drilling.
This is a very dynamic and exciting time for SGCA and investors alike, as the Company’s Illinois Basin team, led by 34-year veteran of the Illinois Basin, Jim Thomas, continues to scope out new and potentially lucrative targets. Thomas is a seasoned professional who, in his role as Chief Geologist, has been instrumental in identifying targets from ISGS data and the like.
The relatively shallow reef targets mean that drilling costs can be minimized and that subsurface structural mapping will suffice for delineation of the targets, with SGCA’s strong suit – 3D seismic analysis – the only requirement for targets in excess of 3k feet.
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