American Energy Development (AED) has started drilling at the Brown #2-12 well in the Dansville prospect in Michigan, US, targeting Niagaran oil reefs.
The firm will drill down to a 40 acre spacing and recover 200,000 barrels of recoverable oil, based on data from analogue wells.
According to a recent USGS report, the basin’s recoverable reserves are in excess of 1.8 billion barrels of oil and 17 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
AED president Herold Ribsskog said that that firm used the latest geological and geophysical technology to evaluate the acreage in Ingham County before drilling started.
"We are drilling on a proven oil bearing structure, which already has a producing well [that] we believe was drilled in a lower porosity zone to AED’s chosen location," said Ribsskog.