Tri-Valley Unit fills out production rig fleet
  by: OilOnline
  Monday, May 08, 2006

Great Valley Production Services LLC, a subsidiary of Tri-Valley Corporation, has successfully filled out its initial fleet goal of at least five workover rigs, giving it capability to work on the shallowest wells from a few hundred feet up to 18,000 feet with 2 7/8 inch tubing.

This enables Tri-Valley to work continuously on its growing inventory of existing wells while drilling new ones on its properties to ramp up production this year. Two of the rigs are also capable of drilling vertical and horizontal wells of 5,000 to 8,000 feet.

Great Valley is mobilizing one shallow rig this week to work over 17 idle wells on its Temblor Valley property abutting the giant South Belridge Oilfield some 40 miles west of Bakersfield, California. A second rig is mobilizing to drill a new 4,000 foot well on the same property. This well will core several hydrocarbon-bearing sections to identify the optimum formation and characteristics for drilling additional horizontal wells.

Three other rigs are in various stages of being refurbished to "better than new" with modern pumps, engines and digital equipment. Rig 105 will pull 250,000 lbs and drill to 8,000 feet and is one of the few in California of that capability and capacity.

"Tri-Valley Oil & Gas Co. has development properties with well programs that will employ the full range of its fleet capacity. Tri-Valley intends to steadily increase production to the goal of thousands of barrels per day as we restore production on idle wells and drill new wells, especially horizontal and hydraulically fractured bores that typically deliver at higher rates than conventional vertical wells. With this newly acquired rig fleet, Tri-Valley should be able to continuously develop its properties to build revenue and share value rather than intermittently due to the chronic and worsening rig shortage," said F. Lynn Blystone, Tri-Valley Corporation president and chief executive officer.