Papers - Domestic Production - Petroleum Development in California during 1929

The consistent upward trend in crude oil production prevailing in California throughout the greater part of 1929, was effectively checked in November by a curtailment program instituted by mutual agreement between operators in four of the major fields. This program artificially reduced daily production to approximately the same daily figure as prevailed in December, 1928. The large amount of deep drilling during the later part of 1928 and during 1929 has established a potential, however, which is far in excess of refinery needs in the state. Low prices for crude oil which prevailed in California during 1928 continued during 1929. General curtailment continued in the older fields in San Joaquin Valley. The number of wildcat and exploratory wells drilled throughout California was materially increased, but no major field was discovered unless the recent bringing in of the Ohio Oil Co.'s Recreation Gun Club No. 1 well, near Venice in Los Angeles Basin, during the closing days of 1929 results in such a field. Significant developments during 1929 were: (1) The discovery of three deeper zones in the Santa Fe Springs field known as the O'Connell, Clarke, and Hathaway; (2) Kettleman Hills development and unanimous agreement to restrict production; (3) developments along the Santa Barbara Coast and the drilling of tideland permits; (4) extensions of some of the older producing areas in the San Joaquin Valley; (5) the Lawndale and Santa Barbara Mesa structures, the former discovered in Los Angeles Basin in 1928, the latter in Santa Barbara County in 1929, proved to be failures; (6) intensive exploration throughout the state and the drilling of a large number of deep wildcat wells; (7) discovery of oil by the Ohio Oil Co. in the Los Angeles Basin at Venice; (8) Long Beach and Ventura Avenue fields maintained steady production throughout the year. As a natural sequence to the discovery of high-gravity oil fields in Kettleman Hills and at Elwood in 1928, a tremendous amount of exploratory work was done in 1929 in areas underlain by rocks of lower Miocene age, particularly along the Santa Barbara Coast area, the San Joaquin Valley, and the Salinas Valley, where the Vaqueros and Temblor sands were considered to hold possibilities for production.