Petro River Oil Corp. said July 18 it had struck a new oil discovery in a historic Golden State oil field.

Petro River's Cattani-Rennie 47X-15 (CR 47X) exploration well in its Sunset Boulevard prospect in Kern County, Calif., confirmed at least two commercially successful pay zones. The well was drilled to a depth of about 8,500 feet.

The company said it is currently evaluating the discovery but initial results indicate "significant reserve potential."

The CR 47X discovery is Petro River's third discovery in the past 60 days and confirms the company's application of 3-D seismic technology in historically prolific fields, Stephen Brunner, president of Petro River, said in a statement.

Petro River's 3-D survey constitutes the first modern seismic data (including both 2-D and 3-D) acquired over the Kern oil field since its initial discovery in 1933, according to the company press release.

Several additional prospect wells are now being planned to be drilled in Kern, the company said.

Scot Cohen, executive chairman of Petro River, said the company is planning several development programs which have "significantly less risk than our exploration wells."

"After de-risking the three discoveries with successful exploration drilling, we can finally get into our development phase which can add significant daily production and cash flow for our company by the end of this year,” Cohen said in a statement.

Petro River owns a 19.25% interest in the Kern oil field based on a 13.75% direct working interest and 5.5% indirect working interest through its 20% equity investment in Horizon Energy Partners LLC.