Mallalieu Field was discovered by Shell Oil Company in the 1950's in Lincoln County, Mississippi. To date the field has produced over 50,000,000 barrels of oil. In the mid 1980's, Shell began to implement a CO/2 Flood project in the field which was expected to produce an additional 40,000,000 barrels of oil. In 1997, Denbury Resources bought the field from Shell, finalized the CO/2 project with resulting increase in production beginning in 2004. Present production in the field is about 8,000 barrels of oil per day.
Columbia acquired a 320 acre block of acreage on the southwest flank of the field which is in the CO/2 Flood area, but did not have any producing wells on it. Columbia and its partners drilled and completed the Nick Ross 19-11 #1, the first successful well on the acreage block, in the Lower Tuscaloosa Sandstones in August, 2008. This well is presently producing at 150 barrels of oil per day with ultimate recoverable reserves on the acreage block of 1,600,000 barrels. Data gathered from the Ross well indicates that the acreage represents a significant new extension to the Mallalieu Field. Based on these results, a minimum of three more wells are planned on this lease and other field extension opportunities are being developed as drilling prospects. Columbia has retained a 40% working interest in this project.