Foothills commences drilling of Grizzly Bear

Foothills Resources, Inc. has initiated drilling of its GB 4 well on the deep Grizzly Bear prospect, which underlies the Grizzly Bluff Field in the Eel River Basin in Humboldt County, California.

The upper portion of the GB 4 well will be drilled as a twin to a well drilled in 1964 that tested 5 million cubic feet of gas per day over a four-day period from the intermediate depth Lower Rio Dell formation. A key objective of the GB 4 well is to test the deeper formations below the Lower Rio Dell formation. The Company intends to drill the well to a depth of about 9,300 feet, which should be sufficient to evaluate the good gas shows encountered in the thick Eel River, Pullen and Bear River sandstones in a well drilled in 1971. The wells drilled in the 1960s and 1970s were not put on production and were subsequently abandoned due to the lack of a natural gas market and pipeline connection.

The drilling of the GB 4 well is expected to fulfill Foothills’ obligations in its Eel River joint venture and remove existing depth restrictions. Foothills is the operator of the joint venture, will pay 100% of the costs of drilling the GB 4 well, and will retain a 75% working interest in the well.