Royale Energy Inc. said Oct. 22 it formed a joint venture (JV) with California Resources Corp. (NYSE: CRC) to drill 30 wells throughout the Rio Vista Field, the largest dry gas field in California.

The Rio Vista Field, located in the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta in northern California, was discovered in 1936 and has produced about 4 trillion cubic feet from more than 15 stacked gas reservoirs, according to the company press release.

Royale said the JV agreement with Los Angeles-based California Resources expands a previous JV development area to the entire Rio Vista Field. The expansion will provide Royale up to three years to drill to any of the multiple, stacked productive formations in the prolific and historic property.

“The joint venture will lead to multiple years of drilling activity at Rio Vista at a time of upward trending natural gas prices due to declining natural gas inventories nationwide,” Royale said in the release.

Royale is an independent E&P company based in San Diego. The company has its primary operations in California’s Los Angeles and Sacramento Basins.

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