Tri-Valley Commences Operations on New Sunridge Oil Prospect
Thursday February 24, 6:28 pm ET
biz.yahoo.com
BAKERSFIELD, Calif., Feb. 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- In a strategic California location, Tri-Valley Oil & Gas Co. (Amex: TIV - News) has secured a drill site for its Sunridge Oil Prospect close in to existing production. The play is on a current ChevronTexaco lease offsetting and up structure to the 28 million barrel Race Track Hill area of the giant 146 million barrel Edison Oil Field discovered in 1944 by British American Production Company.
More than 50 years later, production from the 650-foot shallow zone on the easterly edge of the lease still produces in the range of 500 barrels per day. Tri-Valley has mapped another 800-acre prospect less than a mile east of that lease boundary and is commencing operations to drill a 5,500-foot exploratory well to test six different objectives.
"While not a guarantee of success, Sunridge is a classic California lower risk prospect given it has six potential zones that are all productive nearby. We can test all six formations quickly and cheaply with a 5,500 foot well," said Joseph R. Kandle, TVGO President.
The Company plans to spud this new well before the end of the first quarter during a time when it also has two other major pioneering projects underway.
Schlumberger's high pressure frac team will perform a west coast first by hydraulically fracturing the Ekho No.1 deep well from 18,000 feet to 18,500 feet to attempt to liberate a huge oil and gas find from very tight sands. Independent analyses of logs, cores and fresh, sweet 48 gravity crude from the bore hole suggest 160 million barrels of oil equivalent in place in the 320 acre unit around the drill site. Tri-Valley is aiming for at least a 12.5% recovery at commercial rates by fracturing the hydrocarbon bearing formations and has raised $6 million to conduct multiple attempts if need be to achieve commercial success.
Simultaneously, some 15 miles northeast of Ekho and near the city of Delano, Tri-Valley is moving to redrill the horizontal leg of its Sunrise-Mayel No. 2HR in preparation to hydraulically fracture the gas bearing McClure Shale surrounding the well bore. Independent analyses of the well logs and limited flow tests suggest 40% porosity with 70% natural gas fill in nearly 300 net feet of pay with very low permeability. This equates to 80 billion cubic feet of natural gas in place per 160 acre spacing and Tri- Valley has mapped approximately 6,600 acres of closure within its 8,000-acre lease block.
"We know there is an immense amount of gas in place locked up in this very tight formation that requires special drilling and completion techniques to enable delivery of gas at commercial rates. While we have no guarantee of success at this stage, achieving commercial delivery would give Tri-Valley a leading position on the west coast and we are well funded to persevere in this challenge," said F. Lynn Blystone, President and Chief Executive Officer of Tri-Valley Corporation, TVOG's parent company publicly traded on the American Stock Exchange under the symbol "TIV".
The Company notes that California, the world's fifth largest economy, now imports nearly 60% of its oil and nearby 90% of its natural gas needs with demand continuing to mount against declining production. Therefore, Tri-Valley, with its proprietary inventory of 700 California leads and prospects, has purposely adopted a very aggressive growth strategy of pursuing very large exploratory targets where discovery success could add exceptional intrinsic value per share. It looks to overcome the high risk of failure inherent in exploration with a large number of big target prospects derived with modern technology and the long experience of its exploration and engineering staff and specialized consultants.
"Without question, Tri-Valley is in the right place, at the right time with the right commodity. We've been preparing several years for this confluence of conditions and resources with a corporate goal of providing exceptional rewards for our shareholders and drilling partners who all understand the higher risk as well as the upside potential of high impact drilling," Blystone said.
The Company is in its 42nd year of business as a successful operating company and for 32 years has been a full reporting 12 (g) publicly traded Delaware Corporation. Tri-Valley Corporation stock is publicly traded on the American Stock Exchange under the symbol "TIV" in the United States and is also traded in Europe on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol "TVC WKN 911919." Our company websites, which include all SEC filings, are www.tri-valleycorp.com and www.tri-valley.de.
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results, events and performance could vary materially from those contemplated by these forward-looking statements which includes such words and phrases as exploratory, wildcat, prospect, speculates, unproved, prospective, very large, expect, potential, etc. Among the factors that could cause actual results, events and performance to differ materially are risks and uncertainties discussed in the company's quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2004, and the annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2003.
Contact: F. Lynn Blystone, President & Chief Executive Officer
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Source: Tri-Valley Oil & Gas Co. |
