Some of our readers know this already, but others may not; there are many many active oil wells within Los Angeles. Oil has a fascinating history there, in fact, and some of the current oil wells are well-hidden. Here, for instance, is the Packard Well Site, along with description, one of several featured in this 2018 article:
Built in 1967, what looks like a windowless beige office building along Pico in the Mid-Wilshire neighborhood hides 52 oil and gas wells owned by Sentinel Peak Resources. A derrick on tracks moves from well head to well head within the roofless structure.
According to Perplexity, the City of Los Angeles alone has over 5,000 oil and gas wells across 26 oil and gas fields and some of the major oil fields and well counts in Los Angeles County include:
Wilmington Oil Field: 2,627 active wells (1,725 offshore)
Inglewood Oil Field: 668 active wells
Long Beach Oil Field: 396 active wells
Brea-Olinda Oil Field: 519 active wells (7 in LA County)
Beverly Hills Oil Field: 117 active wells
Torrance Oil Field: 171 active wells
Placerita Oil Field: 229 active wells
Santa Fe Springs Oil Field: 195 active wells
Seal Beach Oil Field: 151 active wells (78 in LA County)
Montebello Oil Field: 187 active wells
Some of these oil fields show up on maps from a century ago such as this one:
And, here a few historic photos from the period:
So, oil has been a big part of the scene in Los Angeles for a very long time (no less than 50,000 years). So long, in fact, it has been seeping out from the time Mammoths and Saber-Tooth Tigers got trapped in the tar at the La Brae Tar Pits, which is one incredible place. Check it out!
And, the seeping continues. One of our readers is an operator from the area and relates why is this so very important in an age when the spoiled brat governor of the state seems determined to recklessly eliminate all oil and gas development:
Shutting down of all wells will pose a health and safety risk to residents for several reasons. One is that earthquakes can cause abandoned wells to gain pressure. There is also the Pacific Ocean tidal influences. That is to say there are natural issues, but it is the free gas (gas that came out of solution through decades of production) that can and does migrate up through poorly abandoned wells or natural faults tand is a real danger.Â
All communities on top of giant oil fields should have monitoring wells, but the politicians and developers want to wipe out all existing wells in Los Angeles County. You will see surface breakouts for many reasons, and it is incredibly negligent from the politicians to either ignore or be ignorant of the health and safety of the residents that live on top of the most petroliferous basin on the planet. Â
Every single oil field discovered in the Los Angeles Basin, the Ventura Basin and the early San Joaquin Basin all came from oil seeps (springs). The State recognized 22 seeps a few years ago that are still occurring. The most noteworthy is the La Brea Tar Pits off Wilshire Blvd which every month or so the caution signs are on the street from the oil flowing up. That oil, by the way, is not from the tar pits as geochemical analysis indicates it comes from the old Sawtelle oil field miles away that migrates over to where the tar pits are located.Â
For the safety of millions of residents, there needs to be more oil wells!
What my friend is pointing out is one of the realities of California geology, that seeps, wherever and however they occur, generally come about from pressure and that can be relieved via oil wells. The City of Angels is also the City of Oil and the resource should be developed, not abandoned. It’s in the interest of energy security, safety and the region’s economic future.
California cannot keep offshoring its energy production to other states, as this only increases the prices of gasoline and electricity, driving out ever more residents and increasing the burden on those who remain. It’s a vicious downward cycle and, yes, the Golden State needs to reverse direction by drilling more oil wells. The oil is there and it needs to brought up and used.
#California #Oil #Climate #OilWells #LosAngeles #History #CityofAngels #CityofOil
Thank you again for your research on the abuse of not doing the right things when it comes to oil! If we are lucky the Hollywood bunch will sink into a tar pool! And earthquakes could trigger a big problem for So. California!
I really like this article for the combined history and information.
Note that California imports at least half of it's oil needs via Ecuadorian rainforest oil extraction. Must be politics.