The Region - News from April 26, 1987

After a four-week delay, drilling on the deepest exploratory oil and gas well in California was to resume at the Elk Hills Naval Petroleum Reserve west of Bakersfield. The $26-million project, funded by the federal Department of Energy, calls for drilling a 25,000-foot well to determine whether a major new reservoir of natural gas exists under the Elk Hills Reserve, as suspected by some geologists. Several broken drill bits forced suspension of drilling of the exploratory well at the 21,664-foot level, a few hundred feet shallower than a 22,030-foot well drilled by Texaco and a 22,711-foot hole drilled by Tenneco, both in Kern County. Drilling has been under way on the latest test well since May, 1985.