Hey Gang; not meaning to throw cold water on anyones fire ---BUT--- just a little insite from a few years in the oilpatch and on the drilling rigs.

This may sound hard to believe, but there are times when its better to have hard rock than soft rock and shales. Hard rock grinds out quite steady with diamond chips wearing away at rock softer than the diamond chips embeded in the core bit. Soft rock and shales sometimes get pasty and gooey, and have a tendency to plug the bits diamond chips and fluid jets, making penetration slower than in the hard rock.

Also, we are sitting on a mesothermal find, created I believe, at least in part by the now dead volcano on the top of the Tesoro. Remember what pumice stone is used for---cleaning your BBQ grill. It has a great wear quality to it that can be hard on bits and drill pipe. Soft formations also are notorious for sluffing in on the pipe after you have drilled thru the shales mostly, then causing you to get stuck in the hole. Ive seen drill pipe blown clear out of the ground at depths of less than 300 feet (100 Meters) by a gas pocket, then it proceeded to burn the rig down.

Im not saying that any of this WILL HAPPEN and have a bearing on our coring program, but be prepared for it, as the possibilty does exist. Just want you to know not to get too expectant on A x B = C. Sometimes s--t happens and the best made plans lay waste, even with the best crews and equipment. Lets all hope none of this comes to pass, but dont be too hard on them if it does, they dont want it any more than you do.

Rinky