Chevron Corp. announced in a Business Wire press release the successful conclusion of the initial exploration phase by its Canadian subsidiary, Chevron Canada Ltd., in the Kaybob area of the Duvernay play, located in west-central Alberta, Canada.

Chevron Canada Ltd. successfully concluded the initial 12-well exploration drilling program in the liquids-rich portion of the Duvernay shale play, according to the release. Five wells have been completed and are tied into production facilities, and an additional four wells are waiting on completion and tie-in. The company’s acreage is well positioned in the condensate-rich and volatile-oil portion of the play. Liquids yield for the completed wells ranges from 30% to 70% with initial production rates up to 212 Mcm/d (7.5 MMcf/d) of natural gas and 1,300 b/d of condensate.

“Well performance and condensate yields exceeded our expectation and strengthen our plans going forward. Near-term plans include transitioning to a two-rig drilling program to optimize well and completion design, and full field spacing requirements,” Jeff Shellebarger, president of Chevron North America E&P Co., said in the release.