Baxterville Field was discovered by Exxon Corporation in Lamar and Marion Counties, Mississippi in 1958. The field has produced 262,000,000 barrels of oil and 450 billion cubic feet of gas (450 BCF).
Columbia has acquired 2 blocks of acreage on the north side of the field. The first well, the Tim Hurst #1, was drilled on Baxterville Block #1 and completed in July, 2008 in the Wilcox Sandstones. Total depth was reached at 3,763 feet with five different productive zones identified by log analysis. The well is presently producing at a rate of 400 MCF of gas per day from the first of these zones. Productive potential of this reservoir is estimated at 2 billion cubic feet of gas (2 BCF). This is especially significant as the well is the most successful Wilcox producer drilled in the Baxterville Field to date and opens the possibility of other Wilcox prospects throughout the field. Columbia has 2 drilling partners participating in this well, Carpathian Energy and Penn-Virginia. Columbia is retaining a 60% working interest in this block.
The second block of acreage has estimated remaining reserves of 800,000 barrels in the Lower Tuscaloosa formation. Columbia has a 25% Working Interest position in this play and has partnered with Omni Oil & Gas of Dallas, Texas. Omni is going to bear 100% of the cost to recomplete and produce 4 existing wells to earn its Working Interest position.