Exhibit 99
[The Beard Company Logo]
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
IS BACK IN THE
OIL AND GAS BUSINESS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, January 19, 2005
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma --- The Beard Company (OTCBB:BRCO) announced today
that it is back in the oil and gas business.
The Company reported that in recent years its wholly-owned subsidiary,
Beard Oil Company ("BOC"), has filed on a number of Federal and State oil and
gas leases in the Rocky Mountain area. One of the leases which BOC acquired was
a 640-acre tract covering all of Section 36, Township 3 North, Range 48 West, in
Yuma County, Colorado.
In January 2004 BOC entered into a Seismic Option - Farmout Agreement with
Vista Resources ("Vista") of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Vista has now drilled two
wells in the Niobrara Formation on the farmout lands. Both wells were completed
on January 12, 2005. The Yuma-5 State #43-36 located in the NE SE of Section 36
had an indicated wellhead open flow of 516 mcfd (thousand cubic feet per day)
and the Yuma-5 State #44-36 located in the SE SE of Section 36 had an indicated
wellhead open flow of 678 mcfd.
Under the farmout arrangement BOC was carried for a 22.5% working interest
in the #43-36 well and had an option to participate for the same interest in the
#44-36 well following review of the test results. BOC has elected to participate
in the second well. Vista has now elected to drill three additional development
wells on the farmout lands and expects to move on the first location shortly.
BOC has determined that it will also participate for its 22.5% interest in the
drilling of these additional development wells.
Preliminary indications are that the wells are expected to have reserves of
approximately 400 mmcf (million cubic feet) each, with each producing well
costing approximately $188,000. It is anticipated that the wells will be pinched
back and placed on production in approximately 90 days, with expected initial
production of 150-200 MCF per day from each of the first two wells.(A)
Herb Mee, Jr., President of the Company, stated: "We are pleased to be back
in the oil and gas business, even though it is on a very limited basis. The
Vista gas wells are expected to be a source of meaningful income to BOC for a
number of years."
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.
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(A) Statements regarding future profitability and operations, including the
timing of those activities, are "forward looking statements" within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. The statements
involve risks that could significantly impact The Beard Company. These
risks include, but are not limited to, adverse general economic conditions,
unexpected costs or delays or other unexpected events, as well as other
risks discussed in detail in The Beard Company's filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. The Beard Company assumes no duty to
update or revise its forward-looking statements based on changes in
internal estimates or otherwise.
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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Herb Mee, Jr.
Fax Number (405) 842-9901 Email: hmee@beardco.com