Prairie Provident Announces Princess and Wheatland (Wayne) Drilling and Operations Update

CALGARY, Alberta, March 20, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Prairie Provident Resources Inc. (“Prairie Provident”, “PPR” or the “Company”) (TSX:PPR) is pleased to provide an operational update on successful drilling and completion results realized to date in 2018 from wells in its Princess and Wheatland (Wayne) core focus areas.

Princess Update

Prairie Provident is pleased to announce the drilling, completion and testing of two 100% working interest (“WI”) wells in the Princess area of Southern Alberta, located at 102/01-26-020-11W4 (“Princess-1”) and 102/09-21-019-10W4 (“Princess-2”) testing the Lithic Glauconitic (“Glauc”) formation. Drilling operations began on January 31, 2018 and was rig released on February 20, 2018. Over a four day period, the Princess-1 well flow tested at an average rate of 750 bbls/d of fluid and 2.0 Mmcf/d of natural gas yielding an oil cut of 80%. During the flow back period, 16% of the total load fluid of 631m³ was recovered.

The second well, Princess-2, flow tested over three days at an average flow-back rate of 375 bbls/d of fluid and 2.0 Mmcf/d of natural gas, yielding an oil cut of 40%. The Princess-2 well is currently tied into production facilities and producing 90 bbls/d of oil and 1.4 Mmcfd of natural gas as it continues to recover load water from the fracking operation. During the flow back period, 7% of the total load fluid of 615m³ was recovered.  The total drilling and completion cost for both wells was approximately $2.2 million, resulting in an average of $1.1 million per well.

A third Glauc well (100% WI) was drilled in Princess at 103/01-21-019-10W4 (“Princess-3”) as part of PPR’s 2018 planned six well 2018 area drilling program.  The Princess-3 well was completed (fracture stimulated) on March 17th and 18th, 2018 and is expected to begin flow testing in the next few days, with results to be released when available.  All wells in Princess were drilled using a mono-bore drilling design with a water-based mud system to reduce drilling time and overall costs.

Wayne Update

At Wayne, Prairie Provident has drilled one well (95% WI) located at 100/03-26-027-21W4 (“Wayne-1”) and one well (100% WI) located at 100/15-35-027-21W4 (“Wayne-2”), both targeting the Ellerslie formation and drilled as part of its six well 2018 program in the area. Drilling operations commenced February 3, 2018 and was rig released on March 1, 2018. The Wayne-1 well was completed and flow tested with the assistance of a swabbing rig for five days exhibiting strong fluid levels over the duration of the test. During the flow back period, 33% of the total load fluid of 785m³ was recovered. The Wayne-1 is indicative of the existing 04-26-027-21W4 well which tested similarly, demonstrating very little gas production.  Over a four day period, the Wayne-2 well flow tested at an average flow back rate of 1,000 bbls/d of fluid and 0.4 Mmcf/d of natural gas, yielding an oil cut of 25%, which is consistent with other wells drilled in the Wayne area.  During the flow back period, 39% of the total load fluid of 841m³ was recovered.  The total cost to drill and complete both wells was approximately $3.3 million, resulting in an average cost of $1.65 million per well.

A third Ellerslie well (100% WI) was drilled at 100/13-35-027-21W4 (“Wayne-3”), which was recently completed (fracture stimulated) on March 15^th and 16^th, 2018 and is anticipated to commence flow testing in the next few days.  All wells in Wayne were drilled using a mono-bore drilling design with an invert-based mud system to reduce drilling times and overall costs.

Prairie Provident is cautiously optimistic based on the early results of its first quarter capital program.  PPR anticipates that five of the six wells referenced above will be on production before spring break-up with the one additional well,  Wayne-3, expected to come on-stream shortly after.

For the second half of 2018, PPR will continue to monitor both the performance of these new wells and commodity prices. With favourable indications, additional drilling activities at Princess and Wayne may continue in July.  Consistent with its commitment to managing the balance sheet, the Company will remain focused on generating positive returns through prudent capital management and can quickly adjust its 2018 budget in response to prevailing commodity prices.

The Company cautions that the short-term production test rates disclosed in this news release are preliminary in nature and may not be indicative of stabilized on-stream production rates or of ratios between product types.  The test results are not necessarily indicative of long-term well or reservoir performance or of ultimate recovery.  In addition, fluid recovery rates during testing includes recovery of load fluids used in well completion stimulation operations.  Actual results will differ from those realized during testing, and the difference may be material.

ABOUT PRAIRIE PROVIDENT

Prairie Provident is a Calgary-based company engaged in the exploration and development of oil and natural gas properties in Alberta.  The Company’s strategy is to grow organically in combination with accretive acquisitions of conventional oil prospects, which can be efficiently developed. Prairie Provident’s operations are primarily focused at Wheatland and Princess in Southern Alberta targeting the Ellerslie and the Lithic Glauconite formations, along with an early stage waterflood project at Evi in the Peace River Arch. Prairie Provident protects its balance sheet through an active hedging program and manages risk by allocating capital to opportunities offering maximum shareholder returns.

For further information, please contact:

Prairie Provident Resources Inc.
Tim Granger
President and Chief Executive Officer
Tel: (403) 292-8110
Email: tgranger@ppr.ca
website:  www.ppr.ca