BOZEMAN (AP)
A Colorado oil company plans to drill exploratory wells near the northern end of the Bridger Mountains this summer. The Bill Barrett Corp., based in Denver, is hoping to find oil or natural gas in a basin about seven miles north of Wilsall near U.S. Highway 89, said Duane Zavadil, the firm’s vice president of governmental and regulatory affairs. Depending on what the first well produces, a second one will likely be drilled nearby. “Depending on what we see at point A, we’ll decide what to do about point B,” Zavadil said. The area is part of a geological formation called an overthrust belt that extends from Canada to Utah. It has seen sporadic drilling in the past, but no production. Over the past two years, Bill Barrett Corp. has been using new seismological technology to get a better look at underground structures that might contain oil or natural gas. The technology provides three-dimensional images of the buried geology, allowing drillers to more precisely select places that might hold fuel. “We’re redeploying with new technology and giving it another shot,” Zavadil said. “It’s almost like an MRI or an ultrasound, but the imagery reaches more than two miles underground.” He described the drilling as a wildcat project, which he said means it comes with high risks and a low probability of success. Drilling the first well will take several months and involve about 40 people. The area is also isolated and a long way from energy pipelines and other infrastructure, so even if oil or natural gas are found, production is likely a long way off.
