Company looking for natural gas in Saddle Mountains

Hope may be for enough to fuel entire West Coast

GRANT COUNTY — If all goes well, the county might soon be fueling the West Coast.

EnCana, an oil and gas company based out of Denver, Colo., is looking to drill for natural gas within the Saddle Mountains, located in Grant County, extending for 26 miles along the crest from Saddle Mountain from the Columbia River to the Adams County line.

"A lot of the ground that they've leased the mineral rights to are in Grant County," Grant County Commissioner Tim Snead said, noting that it is close to several hundred thousand acres, and a lot of the land belongs to the state and federal government.

"There have been several attempts to produce natural gas in that area, back in the mid-1980s," said Walter Lowry, director of community and industry relations for EnCana. "We believe that type of play for natural gas fits within our corporate structure and our corporate philosophy for exploration."

The chances of finding gas are better than they were in the 1980s because of improved technology in drilling and in hydraulic fracturing, Lowry said. But he cautioned that the chances of drilling a wildcat well (a well outside of any known producing field) and determining it to be commercially productive are still in the neighborhood of 10 percent.

It is Snead's understanding that EnCana is drilling down about 14,000 feet, he said.

"They're going to go down where it's warm still," he said.

For marketing purposes, Snead said that EnCana feels it needs to strike enough to fuel the entire West Coast to make a viable producing well.

Lowry wouldn't say that that is one of the company's goals. But he said that there are plans for one exploratory well.

Snead said that the county is in the process of looking at the ability to tax the natural gas, if enough is found.

"That type of volume with that type of revenues would be very beneficial to Grant County," Snead said. "In fact, you could even see us lower our property tax rates, if it would generate that type of money, but I won't know until I look into what they are doing."

Snead said that the Grant County attorney is contacting the EnCana attorney to see what kind of taxing structures have been done in other states.

"This company said they're perfectly happy to pay tax," he said.

He said that EnCana has been up doing some testing for about a year, at a site where Shell drilled about 20 years ago.

"Now they actually want to drill and they're not going on top of the mountain, they're going down below the mountain," Snead said. "They're fairly excited that they could strike. I think Shell did, but they were looking for oil, they weren't looking for gas. These guys are looking for gas."

Lowry said EnCana has been interested in the area in general for a couple years. After drilling the first well, which he said is planned for prior to the end of the year, the company wants to test some concepts and commercial productivity of the well.

"The U.S. has an insatiable thirst for natural gas," he said, noting that about 11 percent of natural gas is presently imported, so the demand is not currently being met. Any new power plant in the future is going to be fueled by natural gas, he said.

"We feel it is important, as a company that is dedicated to finding and developing natural gas reserves in a responsible manner, that puts the safety of workers and welfare of the public foremost in the welfare process," Lowry said. "(We) believe it can be developed responsibly, (in an) environmentally friendly manner. That's what we're dedicated to."

If EnCana can get the conditional use permit, Snead said his understanding was that the company would begin drilling immediately.

A special meeting will be held by the Grant County Planning Office Nov. 17 to determine whether the company will be able to drill.

More information on EnCana can be obtained from their Web site, www.encana.com.