Occidental Petroleum Corp., Los Angeles, has made a discovery of oil and gas reserves in Kern County, California, that it terms the largest new find in the state in 35 years.

Oxy believes there are between 150 million and 250 million gross barrels of oil equivalent reserves within the outlined area where it has drilled six wells to date to delineate the discovery. The multipay 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.

Oxy’s interest in the discovery area is approximately 80%. About two-thirds of the discovery is believed to be natural gas.

Oxy chairman and chief executive Ray R. Irani says, “We believe this to be the largest new oil and gas discovery made in California in more than 35 years. It is probable that there are additional reserves outside the defined area, and it is possible that structures of this type exist elsewhere in Oxy’s 1.1-million-net-acre position in California. We plan to drill wells to exploit these opportunities over the next five to 10 years.”

Oxy is currently the largest gas producer and third-largest oil producer in California. The company’s assets in the state include more than 7,500 active wells in 90 fields, spanning 600 miles. Oxy’s California proved reserves were 708 million barrels equivalent at year-end 2008 and represent about 24% of Oxy’s worldwide reserves. The company’s oil and gas operations are in the U.S., Middle East/North Africa and Latin America.

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