The multi-pay zone discovery area, whose areal geological extent is still being defined, has both conventional and unconventional pay zones. The bulk of the discovery’s producing zones are conventional oil and gas bearing formations.
Occidental Petroleum’s interest in the discovery area is approximately 80%. Approximately two-thirds of the discovery is believed to be natural gas.
We believe this to be the largest new oil and gas discovery made in California in more than 35 years, said Ray R. Irani, chairman and chief executive officer of Occidental Petroleum.
It is probable that there are additional reserves outside the defined area, and it is possible that structures of this type exist elsewhere in Occidental Petroleum’s 1.1 million net acre position in California. We plan to drill wells to exploit these opportunities over the next 5 to 10 years, Irani said.
