Exhibit 99


 THE BEARD COMPANY                                           News Release
 Enterprise Plaza, Suite 320
5600 North May Avenue                                  Herb Mee, Jr., President
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73112
(405) 842-2333    OTCBB:  BRCO

                                THE BEARD COMPANY
                           ISSUES UPDATE ON STATUS OF
                                 VISA LITIGATION

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  Thursday, January 6, 2005

     Oklahoma City, Oklahoma --- The Beard Company (OTCBB:BRCO) today issued an
update on the status of the lawsuit against Visa.

     In May of 2003 the Company's 71%-owned subsidiary, starpay.com, l.l.c.
("starpay"), joined with VIMachine, Inc. in filing a suit in the U.S. District
Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division against Visa
International Service Association and Visa USA, Inc., both d/b/a Visa (Case No.
CIV:3-03-CV0976-L). starpay would receive 30% of the proceeds from any
settlement or judgment after recoupment of out-of-pocket litigation expenses.

     VIMachine is the holder of a U.S. Patent (the "VIMachine Patent") that
covers among other things, an improved method of authenticating the cardholder
involved in an Internet payment transaction. The suit alleges, among other
things, that Visa's payer authentication service, widely advertised as "Verified
by Visa," infringes the VIMachine Patent and seeks damages for such
infringement. Total Verified by Visa card volume for the first nine months of
2004 was more than $5.4 billion, with transaction volumes in the September 2004
quarter increasing almost 200% over the same quarter of 2003. Visa projects
significant growth of the system going forward.

     In April and May 2004, starpay.com et al filed Plaintiffs' Patent
Infringement Contentions and Plaintiffs' Supplemental Patent Infringement
Contentions, respectively, detailing Visa's alleged infringement of the majority
of the patent claims depicted in the VIMachine Patent. Subsequently, in May
2004, Defendants filed Preliminary Invalidity Contentions requesting the
VIMachine Patent be found invalid.

     From May through October 2004, the Plaintiffs and Defendants submitted
numerous filings related to interpretation of the terms and phrases set out in
the VIMachine Patent claims. A Markman Hearing was held on October 29, 2004
allowing both parties to present oral arguments before the Court regarding the
claim construction issues.

     On January 4, 2005, Magistrate Judge Sanderson filed a Report and
Recommendation of the United States Magistrate Judge addressing his findings and
recommendations with respect to the claim constructions to be applied to the
VIMachine Patent. Judge Sanderson recommended that only four of the 28 claims
asserted by the Plaintiffs be rendered invalid. Although Judge Sanderson's
findings and recommendations are subject to appeal to District Judge Lindsay,
starpay believes this to be a favorable development for the Plaintiffs.
Plaintiffs anticipate they will pursue modification of the Magistrate's
recommendations to further strengthen their position. It is likely that
Defendants will attempt to do the same.

     Marc Messner, President of starpay, stated: "We are pleased with the
Magistrate's findings which we consider to be a positive development. We believe
we are well positioned to move the case toward trial."

     The Beard Company's common stock is traded on the OTC Bulletin Board under
the symbol: BRCO. Its operations consist principally of coal reclamation
activities, carbon dioxide (CO2) gas production, the construction of fertilizer
plants in China, and its e-commerce activities aimed at developing business
opportunities to leverage starpay(TM)'s intellectual property portfolio of
Internet payment methods and security technologies.

                                    # # # # #

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Herb Mee, Jr.

Fax Number (405) 842-9901                             Email:  hmee@beardco.com