Plans to drill as many as four new test wells in the quest for black gold on 160 acres in the heart of Huasna Valley will be laid out Thursday during a town hall meeting.

If the proposed project gains San Luis Obispo County approval and Excelaron LLC finds oil on the property east of Arroyo Grande that's owned by former 4th District Supervisor Howard Mankins, it would be the first new oil field in the county in years.

“There are two ways it could go,” said John McKenzie, county Planning and Building Department project manager.

“They don't find what they thought was out there and they leave, or they find oil ... and it goes into production.”

Excelaron, a subsidiary of the Australian Oil Co., is requesting a conditional-use permit from San Luis Obispo County to allow for oil exploration and production on the Mankins property.

“There's always been interest in drilling for oil in Huasna,” said Kit Matlick, Excelaron operations coordinator.

“There just hasn't been production out there. With modern technology, it makes it easier to extract oil.”

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The oil company's proposal is expected to be heard by the county Planning Commission - the final authority on the project unless an appeal is filed - sometime this fall, McKenzie said.

About 30 years ago, approval was gained to drill test wells on the Mankins land. However, oil production never commenced on the property because the price of gas and crude oil dropped significantly at that time, McKenzie said.

“It's pretty much been dormant (since),” McKenzie said of the property.

Matlick said Excelaron is in the business of oil exploration and production, which is the driving force behind the Huasna Valley oil project proposal.

“We are just going to go out (to Huasna) to see what is out there,” Matlick added.

If oil is found at the site and production commences, project plans call for a maximum of eight truck trips a day to-and-from the property, which has caused some concern with nearby residents, McKenzie said.

“Traffic is an issue (with this project),” he added. “What it really comes down to is the traffic safety.”

To mitigate potential traffic safety issues along the truck route, the county will

require that pilot cars accompany trucks 30-feet or longer in length, which also won't be allowed on the road during school bus times, McKenzie said.

The environmental impact report (EIR) that was developed for the proposed exploration and production project on the property in the late 1980s will be used for the newest proposal, McKenzie said.

The Arroyo Grande Oil Field, east of Pismo Beach in Price Canyon, is the county's only large-scale oil field. It is owned and operated by Plains Exploration and Production Co., which recently received approval to construct a reverse-osmosis water-treatment plant at the oil field that will help boost production there.

July 30, 2008