NEW OIL OPPORTUNITIES IN THE EASTERN VENTURA BASIN

Re-evaluation of some old prospects and properties in the Eastern Ventura Basin of California, in light of discoveries adjacent to older fields, indicates the potential for small but profitable new oil reserves. The discovery in the late 90's of a new "pool" to the south of the old Temescal Oil Field along Piru Creek is an example of how newer drilling techniques and completion practices can yield small but profitable new reserves. The region between Piru Creek and Sespe Creek on the hanging wall of the San Cayetano Thrust was mostly drilled before 1940. The few "modern wells" drilled prior to 1985 showed potential, but the exodus of majors from California in the middle 80's left the regions' remaining potential untapped. Today new oil production from shallow wells may be found within a proven oil province which, paradoxically, does not suffer from the extreme environmental scrutiny characteristic of other California oil plays.