The Marten Creek capital program was reduced to $5 million in 2007 from $17 million in 2006.
Given this area is restricted to winter access, the capital was invested in the first quarter: drilling
4 (4.0 net) wells, deepening an existing 100 percent well to evaluate the Banff formation, and
installing two 100 percent field compressors. Each well found the targeted zone but after
completion the established gas rates were too low to justify tie-in. With the disappointing drilling
results Trilogy averaged approximately 15 MMcf/d for the first quarter in this area.
Marten Creek proved to be a challenging field to
develop and operate. Winter-only access eliminated the
ability to cost effectively perform summer well
maintenance to mitigate the relatively steep decline of
the field. Production issues were prevalent due to the
low pressure shallow wells that produce significant water
rates. These factors led to the decision to divest the
property effective March 1, 2007 for proceeds of $75.2
million.
