Thums engaged in multi million dollar development of East Wilmington Field

With 5 rigs working and 12 wells completed at month end, development of the fabulous East Wilmington Oil Field at Long Beach is under way and running true to expected form. The field operator is THUMS, a 5-company combine. The first 40 wells in the 6,500 acre tideland and upland field, scheduled to go on pump by the first of the year, are being drilled from 5 massive concrete cellars on 311-acre Pier J., largest man-made structure of its type in the world. While envisioned as a platform to reach the western limits of East Wilmington, Pier J was also constructed as a commercial harbor facility and will provide berths for 20 ocean-going ships. Drilling is expected to move offshore in March with completion of the first drilling island, A, about 600 ft seaward of famed Rainbow Pier and the multimillion dollr Long Beach area. The operation foresees drilling of 1,000-1,200 wells during the next 5 yr. There will be four 10-acre drilling islands, and each island will have between 150-300 wells. Virtually all the drilling work is expected to be finished by 1970 or 1971 with the peak field production somewhere between 150,000-200,000 bpd.