Ivanhoe Plans Tamarack Project Boost

Ivanhoe Energy expects to file an application to develop the Tamarack HTL facility, after having completed work on the 28-well drilling programme.

Ivanhoe said it has invested $17.9m in the project, which is situated in the Athabasca region of northern Alberta, Canada, during the first quarter of 2010.

The firm has also completed steaming and soaking operations at the Pungarayacu IP-15 well in Ecuador where production testing is underway and which has seen an investment of $4.2m in the first quarter.

Ivanhoe also plans to drill two wells in China’s Zitong block up to a depth of 4,500m in June and July 2010, with each prospect targeting 0.3 to 0.5 trillion cubic feet of gas.

Ivanhoe reported a net loss of $2.6m in the first quarter of this year compared with a net loss of $11.6m for the same quarter in 2009 on lower depletion expense in the first quarter.