Harvest Natural Resources has established initial oil and gas production from an eight-well appraisal and development drilling project on its Antelope project in Duchesne County, Utah. The eight well program is operated by Newfield Exploration Company (Newfield) with Harvest holding a 43 percent working interest. The parties have formed a 320 acre Area of Mutual Interest (AMI) containing the eight drilling locations in the southern portion of Harvest's Antelope project land position. Production is from the Green River formation at a depth of approximately 6,800 feet and represents an extension of the existing 1,700 well Monument Butte field operated by Newfield.

The first well in the program, the Moon # 1-29-4-2, was completed in November and placed on production on December 6, 2009. Average production for the first seven days was 344 BOPD and 0.5 MMCFD. The second well in the program, the Moon # 1-20-4-2, was also completed in November. This well was placed on production today. The third well in the program has been drilled and logs indicate thicker pay than either of the first two wells. This well is awaiting completion, with the fourth well currently being drilled. The parties anticipate completing the entire eight-well program in the first quarter of 2010.

Harvest President and CEO James Edmiston said: "We are very pleased that the results of the first two wells in this program exceeded our pre-drill expectations. With gross drilling and completion costs of approximately $800,000 for each of these wells, the results should provide strong economics. It is also worth noting that this production represents Harvest's first oil and gas production in the United States. We look forward to building on this initial success by completing the remainder of the eight-well program and evaluating the opportunity to further expand drilling into adjacent joint acreage."

Tags: Harvest Natural Resources