Quicksilver Shares Leap On Horn River Well Results

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Quicksilver Resources Inc. rose Tuesday on positive news from the oil and gas explorer's Horn River Basin well, prompting an analyst to upgrade the stock.

Shares rose $1.33, or 10.1 percent, to $14.45 in midday trading.

On Monday the company announced that its first completed well in the Horn River Basin in Northeast British Columbia tested at an initial production rate of 13 million cubic feet per day and averaged 10 million cubic feet per day over the first 30 days.

The D-50A well was drilled into the Muskwa shale formation and is being produced into a permanent sales line that connects to the Spectra pipeline in Fort Nelson.

Quicksilver's CEO Glen Darden said, "It is becoming clear from mapping, core analysis and production results that our substantial acreage position is in a very good part of the basin and contains the potential for multiple trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas resources for Quicksilver."

Raymond James analyst John Freeman said the initial results raise hopes for a portion of the company's Horn River Basin assets, which cover 127,000 acres. Freeman upgraded the company's stock to "Market Perform" from "Underperform."