Imperial mum on Horn River gusher claims Wire reports:

Canadian player Imperial Oil declined to confirm comments by its partner that initial production rates on wells in the Horn River play in British Columbia have been as high as 18 million cubic feet per day.

Imperial and US supermajor ExxonMobil are 50-50 partners in the Horn River region of northeastern BC, where several companies are operating and have touted potential reserves in the trillions of cubic feet.

ExxonMobil’s global exploration head told the Wall Street Journal that initial rates have been in the range of 16 million to 18 million cubic feet a day, on par with the prolific Haynesville shale play in Louisiana.

But Exxon said in a statement sent to Reuters by email that the wells cited in the Journal's story were not production wells, only test wells that "did not flow anywhere near the stated rates."

Imperial spokesman Pius Rolheiser would not confirm those numbers to Reuters, but pointed out the partners acquired eight more blocks of land in the 17 June British Columbia government land sale.

ExxonMobil is the majority owner of Imperial, with a 69.6% stake.

Thursday, 09 July, 2009, 21:07 GMT | last updated: Thursday, 09 July, 2009, 22:31 GMT