Occidental Petroleum Corporation (www.oxy.com) announced that it has made a discovery of oil and gas reserves in Kern County, Calif. Occidental estimates there are between 150 million and 250 million gross barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) reserves within the outlined area where Oxy has drilled six wells to date to delineate the discovery.
According to Occidental, the bulk of the discovery”s producing zones are conventional oil and gas bearing formations. Occidental”s interest in the discovery area is approximately 80 percent. Approximately two-thirds of the discovery is believed to be natural gas.
Oxy is currently the largest natural gas producer and third-largest oil producer in the state of California, where the company has produced oil and gas for more than 50 years. Oxy”s assets in the state include more than 7,500 active wells located in 90 fields, spanning 600 miles. Oxy”s California proved reserves were 708 million BOE at year-end 2008 and represent approximately 24 percent of Oxy”s worldwide reserves.
