The Beard Company Reports Second Quarter and First Half 2010 Operating Results

OKLAHOMA CITY, Aug. 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Beard Company (OTC Bulletin Board: BRCO) today reported its operating results for the second quarter and first half of 2010.

For the quarter ended June 30, 2010, the Company reported a net loss attributable to common shareholders of ($943,000), or ($0.05) per diluted share, compared with net earnings attributable to common shareholders of $5,123,000, or $0.24 per diluted share, in the second quarter of 2009.  Revenues totaled $104,000 in the most recent quarter, versus $42,000 in the prior-year period.

The Company reported a net loss attributable to common shareholders of ($1,747,000), or ($0.09) per share, for the six months ended June 30, 2010, compared with net earnings attributable to common shareholders of $4,850,000, or $0.23 per diluted share, in the corresponding period of the previous year.  Revenues in the first half of 2010 totaled $244,000, versus $348,000 in the six months ended June 30, 2009.

Operating results for the second quarter and six months of 2009 benefited from non-recurring pre-tax gains of (i) $4,897,000 attributable to the sale of the Company's remaining interest in the McElmo Dome CO2 Unit and (ii) $832,000 from the settlement of the Visa litigation.  No similar non-recurring gains were recorded in the second quarter or first half of 2010.

Dilworth Field.  "We remain highly optimistic about the ability of the Dilworth Field enhanced oil recovery project in Oklahoma to have a positive impact on our operating and financial results beginning in the current quarter," stated Herb Mee, Jr., President of The Beard Company.  "The impact in the third quarter will not be as great as anticipated when we reported our first quarter operating results on May 25, 2010 due to the time required to install and bring certain equipment on line.  In mid-July we completed the installation of the two horizontal pumping systems mentioned in the May 25 report.  This has enabled us to more than double our disposal capacity and utilize the majority of the production wells in the Field. We encountered delays caused by adverse weather conditions and equipment shutdowns while we were 'de-bugging' our new equipment with considerable assistance from the equipment manufacturers.  Such delays, we believe, are now largely behind us.

"We currently have eight of our nine production wells producing.   The ninth well, used for redundancy, will likely be brought on production in the next 30 days.  Production has averaged more than 420 barrels of oil per day during the past seven days. We are in the process of ramping up the Field and expect to achieve a record daily injection rate of 180,000 barrels of fluid by the end of this week.  We will continue to increase total Field production slowly to the designed rate exceeding 180,000 barrels of total fluid per day, which we estimate should result in production of over 600 barrels of oil per day.  

"Our enthusiasm for the Field is best demonstrated by our purchase last Friday of an additional 7.5% before payout ("BPO") and 3.0% after payout ("APO") interest in the Field.  The purchase was made by Dilworth Partners, LLC ("DPLLC"), a new limited liability company formed in early August.  Members of the LLC contributed $900,000 to DPLLC to fund the purchase, and the Company will own 50% of DPLLC after the Members have been repaid their $900,000 investment.

"Our total APO interest in the Field will increase to 18.5% as a result of this most recent transaction," continued Mee.  "Based upon our current projections for the Field and recent oil prices, we expect The Beard Company's operating income to turn positive in the quarter ending December 31, 2010, with substantial further increases in operating profitability anticipated in 2011 and 2012."

Geohedral LLC.   We conduct minerals exploration in Alaska through our investment in Geohedral LLC.  We currently own approximately 25% of Geohedral's outstanding equity interests.  The initial assays of samples from Geohedral's mining claims, conducted independently by Dr. Jan Cannon, indicated significant quantities of gold, silver, magnetite and ilmenite.  Geohedral conducted several initial surveys in the Tanis Mesa claims which also indicated significant quantities of gold and silver.  Geohedral has since engaged several independent laboratories to conduct assays of its mining claims in order to verify the results of Dr. Cannon's initial assays and the assays conducted on Tanis Mesa.  To date, results from the independent assays have not correlated with the results of the initial assays.  In fact, these subsequent assays failed to indicate commercial quantities of gold or silver in any of Geohedral's present claims and have shown significantly less magnetite and ilmenite within the Black Sands area than was documented previously.  Geohedral is currently attempting to raise additional capital to extend portions of its leases and complete further exploratory work, but the project must be considered speculative at this point.

About The Beard Company

The Beard Company creates, acquires, and/or invests in businesses, primarily related to natural resources, that management believes have high growth and/or above-average profit potential and can enhance shareholder value.  The Company is involved in oil and gas activities and in minerals exploration and development through its Geohedral investment.

The Company is headquartered in Oklahoma City and its common stock trades on the OTC Bulletin Board under the symbol "BRCO".

Forward-Looking Statements

This document may include statements that constitute "forward-looking" statements, usually containing the words "believe", "estimate", "project", "expect", "anticipate", or similar expressions.  Forward-looking statements inherently involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements.  Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to future trends in commodities prices; financial, geological or mechanical difficulties affecting the Company's or Geohedral's planned geological work programs; uncertainties surrounding estimates of mineralized material; and other risks associated with our business.  By making these forward-looking statements, we undertake no obligation to update these statements for revisions or changes in the future.

SOURCE The Beard Company