“Mitchell Drilling reaches 95% of the drilling activity occurring in the Illinois Basin because of our central location in Carmi, Illinois.”                                                                    Ron Wooten                                                                    C.P.A.                                                                    Vice President of Finance                                                                    Office and Safety Manager

Opportunities for Enhanced Recovery
Although the Illinois Basin is a relatively mature reservoir, abundant opportunities exist for primary and enhanced recovery methods. The Basin covers 59,000 square miles in the tri-state area of Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky and contains coveted high gravity, low sulfur oil.

The average pay zones range from 1000 feet to approximately 5000 feet deep with an average depth of 3000 feet. Deeper zones such as the St. Louis, Salem, Warsaw, and Devonian are showing extensive promise. Although secondary recovery or pressure maintenance has nearly tripled the amount of recoverable oil in the Basin, horizontal drilling in old reservoirs has added even more recovery. Estimates calculate that nearly two-thirds of the petroleum reservoirs still remain below the surface.