The well has a target depth of about 10,000 feet (3048m) and will test the two primary formations, the “C” and “Price” sands, of the Cotton Valley formation.

As of this morning, the well was drilling ahead at 2883ft, according to Pryme, which has a 40% working interest (30% net revenue interest) ownership in the project.

Pryme said prospective reserves magnitude for this well are 5 billion cubic feet based on trend analogue well production data and known permeabilities in the immediate area.

“The well should take about three weeks to drill,” the company said. “Operator Nelson Energy has extensive experience drilling Cotton Valley wells over the past two decades and owns the remaining 60% working interest in the well.”

Pryme chairman John Dickinson is quick to point out the drive to chase such deep objectives has been through necessity rather than choice.

“Our present-day understanding of where to look for hydrocarbons is the result of a natural selection process whereby the lower-hanging fruit was the first to be plucked by the drill bit over decades of prospecting in the US,” he said.

“While earth scientists knew of the existence of deeper accumulations, drilling for them was cost-prohibitive, so they focused on the shallower, less costly objectives.

“Those fields have moved into rapid depletion now and although there are still some shallow prospects out there, we are left with mainly deeper objectives.”

On the upside, these targets have the potential of significantly greater rewards. On the downside, the journey to deep success can be both arduous and expensive.

But Dickinson said there is a big “up” to exploring there.

With permeability and subsequent flow rates of deep prospects along the Gulf being very high, even the smallest drilling success can change the face of a junior company virtually overnight.

Pryme’s Raven project covers mineral leases in the prolific Cotton Valley and Hosston natural gas trends in Lincoln Parish.

Raven lies along a natural gas fairway of Cotton Valley marine bars, which are the target of the Raven project.

“The project has been classed as an ‘engineering play’ to the extent that more emphasis is given to the drilling and completion techniques and production of the well, as generally most wells in the area will produce natural gas and condensate,” managing director Justin Pettett said.

Dickinson said the Cotton Valley gas fairway offered a combination of easily mapped structures, adjacent discoveries on similar features, no 3D seismic requirements, and large, guaranteed land positions make exploration highly attractive.

“The Cotton Valley area is not very risky and has been in great demand for a long time,” he said.

“It is an old beachfront which has been thoroughly delineated in the past so it doesn’t require us to do any seismic or use more conventional exploration tools as we have in other areas.

“But it is a capital-intensive area with wells of 10,000 feet depth costing as much as $3 million to drill and complete.”

He said this cost is offset by reserves in the range of 5Bcf per well, with a value on an “in-the-ground-undeveloped-basis” close to $16 million using a $3 per thousand cubic feet gas price.

About 10 drilling locations have been identified in the project thus far, with the leasing of acreage continuing.

Prospective gas reserves to the 100% working interest within the Raven Prospect could be on the order of 50Bcf (20Bcf net to Pryme), based on 5Bcf per well.

“The degree of risk and amount of previous delineation of Cotton Valley would allow us to beat our chest a little earlier than we might otherwise,” Dickinson said.

“There are so many wells around our drilling locations which have certain production characteristics and known reserves that it is fairly easy for us to extrapolate what our position will be even before drilling commences. It is not about whether you make a well on this sort of acreage, but what kind of well you make.”

Dickinson says Pryme’s 40% stake in up to 14 wells at Cotton Valley could earn close to $1.2 million per month.

“Cotton Valley could add a total 20Bcf net to our company’s balance sheet and therefore one prospect within that acreage could generate over $125 million of undiscounted future income,” he said.

“We do not have income anywhere near that range at present. So for us, it would definitely be high impact.”

Spinks-Middlebrook 11-1 marks the launch of an extensive drilling program, the company said.

“Our 3-D seismic shoot in Turner Bayou continues,” Pettett said.

“Once processed and evaluated, we plan to begin our drilling program in that project in conjunction with Raven.

“The last 12 months have been spent aggregating a mix of exploration and engineering-class drilling projects to grow Pryme from its junior to mid-cap status in as short a time as possible.

“We are working to produce continuous drilling activity for Pryme over the next couple of years.”