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GASCO
ENERGY DRILLING CREWS MAKE HOLE IN RECORD TIME;
BLACKHAWK WELLS DRILLED IN 25 AND 28 DAYS
DENVER
– (PR Newswire) – August 21, 2006 –
Gasco Energy, Inc. (AMEX: GSX) today announced that
its most recent two Blackhawk wells have reached total
depth (TD) in record time, resulting in a combined
savings of $400,000. The reduction to 25 and 28 actual
drilling days from a presently budgeted 30 days (for
a 12,500’ well, drilled out from surface casing)
is an integral part of Gasco’s cost-reduction
initiative which continues to improve per-well economics
on its Riverbend Project in Utah’s Uinta Basin.
Previously, the record time from spud to TD for a
Gasco-operated Blackhawk well was 29 days for a well
drilled earlier this year. Nearby, another operator
has drilled a well to the Blackhawk in as little as
22 days, which the company believes it can achieve
and exceed.
*All-in,
per-day drilling costs are currently estimated at $40,000
with 12,500’ Blackhawk wells budgeted for 30 days
to TD. Per-well cost savings are for drilling only and
can further be reduced by continuing to aggressively
bid out completion and other services.
In a memo to the crews, Mike Decker, Gasco’s COO
said: “I would like to congratulate the rig crews
and drilling managers of Rigs 611 and 270, as well as
the rest of the Gasco team, for getting these wells
down so quickly. Improved rig performance combined with
markedly better drill bit design and technology allows
us to see faster times to TD. Reducing drilling days,
an input over which we have some control, is an important
part of our goal of reducing the cost of our wells.
Only recently, our budgeted drilling days were 33 to
35 days, and now we are beginning to see sub-30-day
wells. This is one of the initial results of our Riverbend
Project now moving into a developmental drilling stage.
Extrapolated over the course of a full-year drilling
program, reduced drilling days will have a meaningful
impact on our per-well investment and our per-well economics.”
About Gasco Energy
Gasco Energy, Inc. is a Denver-based natural gas and
oil exploitation and development company that focuses
on natural-gas-rich prospects in the Rocky Mountain
area of the United States. The Company currently is
active in the Uinta Basin in Utah and controls acreage
in the Greater Green River Basin of Wyoming. To learn
more, visit www.gascoenergy.com.
Forward-looking statements
Certain statements set forth in this press release relate
to management’s future plans, objectives and expectations.
Such statements are forward looking within the meanings
of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended,
and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
as amended. All statements other than statements of
historical facts included in this press release, including,
without limitation, statements regarding the Company’s
future financial position, potential resources, business
strategy, budgets, projected costs and plans and objectives
of management for future operations, are forward-looking
statements. In addition, forward looking statements
generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking
terminology such as “may,” “will,”
“expect,” “intend,” “project,”
“estimate,” “anticipate,” “believe,”
or “continue” or the negative thereof or
similar terminology. Although any forward-looking statements
contained in this press release are to the knowledge
or in the judgment of the officers and directors of
the Company, believed to be reasonable, there can be
no assurances that any of these expectations will prove
correct or that any of the actions that are planned
will be taken. Forward-looking statements involve known
and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause the
Company’s actual performance and financial results
in future periods to differ materially from any projection,
estimate or forecasted result. Some of the key factors
that may cause actual results to vary from those the
Company expects include inherent uncertainties in interpreting
engineering and reserve or production data; operating
hazards; delays or cancellations of drilling operations
because of weather and other natural and economic forces;
fluctuations in oil and natural gas prices in response
to changes in supply; competition from other companies
with greater resources; environmental and other government
regulations; defects in title to properties; increases
in the Company’s cost of borrowing or inability
or unavailability of capital resources to fund capital
expenditures; and other risks described under “Risk
Factors” in Item 1. of the Company’s 2005
Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission
on March 3, 2006.
Contact for Gasco Energy, Inc.: Investor Relations:
303-483-0044
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