Mrs Peel,I think that might be a little premature to write off...

Mrs Peel,

I think that might be a little premature to write off the Pioneer. Firstly they haven't (as far as we know) "continued drilling" as they would normally drill right through and out of the Pioneer before stopping to test anyway. Sure, it could be empty (pretty unlikely) or they could be able to control the well pressure adequately and therefore able to continue drilling.

I have always beleived that given they are drilling with air/mist and the consequent low likelihood of causing any formation damage, the reason the early halt to drilling was floated was to make sure that people didn't see the drill as only a partial success if, due to high down-hole pressure they are forced to stop drilling. Normally such down-hole pressure would be controlled by increasing mud weight but that isn't an option here.

I strongly beleive that even if there are good gas shows in the Pioneer Sst, CTP will continue drilling to test the alternative targets for as long as they can maintain safe control of the well pressures.

Cheers

Badfish