Oil Production Activities & Hydraulic Fracturing Oil in California

Oil Production Activities & Hydraulic Fracturing Oil in California

First Oil Well in California at Newhall Oil Field This was the first successful oil well drilled in the State of California. It was named Pico No. 4 in the Newell Oil Field in 1876. It found oil at a depth of 300 and yielded 30 barrels/day.

Oil Producing Areas in California Here are the top ten oil producing counties in the State in barrels. (1) Kern - 141, 585,620, (2) Los Angeles - 24,662,715, (3) Ventura - 8,973,076, (4) Monterey - 7,412,829, (5) Santa Barbara - 6,025,389, (6) Fresno - 5,941,962, (7) Orange - 4,487,945, (8) San Luis Obispo - 420,733, (9) Kings - 117,315 and (10) Tulare - 49,021.

Thumper Truck Oil companies search for underground oil deposits by a variety of means including sonic mapping by thumper trucks (seen above), by satellite mapping and by conventional geologic research.

Exploratory Oil Production Well Site Once the underground oil deposit has been located and the drilling rights secured, a production oil rig is brought to the site. Up to 60 heavy duty trucks are involved and the process can take up to several weeks before a decision is made to proceed

Typical Oil Tank Battery This a typical oil tank battery that would serve up to 12 wells - it includes a production tank, an oil/water separator (heater/treater), a produced water tank and an export tank.

Midway Sunset Oil Field - Taft, CA This is a typical arrangement at annual field showing numerous wells, storage tank batteries, steam lines, access roads and the like.

Work Over Rig When a well becomes clogged, scaled or otherwise needs maintenance, a work over rig comes in and does what is needed. This can include redrawing if necessary. Usually there are 3-4 work over rigs on a field at a time.

Oil Storage Tank Farm Once the oil is delivered topside it is eventually delivered to a storage tank farm for interim storage. It will be eventually sent to a refinery via pipeline or tanker truck for processing. This tank farm is in Cushing, Oklahoma - the largest such tank farm in CONUS.

Abandonment of a Well When an oil well is no longer producing oil, it is a candidate for idling or abandonment. If it is abandoned, a sell plate is welded topside showing the API number. Additional data on the well is stored at the DOGGR offices detailing the abandonment process, certification of sealing and bottom hole depth, etc.

Oil Spill from Field into Residential Area Problems can exist from co-location of oil fields and surrounding neighborhoods. A spill is depicted above flowing into a residential neighborhood. Other problems can include excessive noise, heavy truck traffic, toxic air emissions, ground subsidence with foundation cracking, and water quality problems.

First Hydraulic Fracturing Well The first well utilizing hydraulic fracturing was drilled in SW Kansas at the Hugoton gas Field by Stanoland Oil Company in 1947. This was for enhanced gas recovery. Tow years later, the Halliburton Oil Well Cementing Company applied for and received a patent for hydraulic fracturing.

Reasons to Use Hydraulic Fracturing The reasons for an oil company to employ hydraulic fracturing would be as follows. To increase the flow of oil or oil/gas from a low-permeability reservoir, To increase the flow of oil or oil/gas from wells that have been damaged, To connect the natural fractures and/or cleats in a formation to the wellbore, To decrease the pressure around the well to minimize sand production, To enhance gravel-packing sand placement, To decrease the pressure around the well to minimize problems with asphaltine and/or paraffin deposition, To increase the area of drainage or the amount of formation in contact with the wellbore, and To connect the full vertical extent of a reservoir to a slanted or horizontal well.

Aerial Shot of Hydraulic Fracturing Well The complex array of equipment including water trucks, mud trucks, slurry mixers, etc. at a hydraulic fracturing well in Pennsylvania.

South Belridge Oil Field The wells in Kern County that have been fracked are with high volume, high pressure treatments. To date (3/14/15) there have been 1,446 wells subject to hydraulic fracturing according to the DOGGR Interim Well Stimulation database. These wells are primarily in the North and South Begrudge, Elk Hills, Lost Hills, Paloma and Rosedale oil fields - primarily

Folded, Convoluted Monterey Shale The initial forecast for recoverable oil from the Monterey Shale was estimated at 15,000,000,000 barrels - by an outside contractor to the Dept. of Energy. A follow-up revisitation to the estimate resulted in it being downgrades to 600,000,000 barrels (96%) by the Energy Information Agency. What works in a linear geologic formation (like the Baaken play, Marcellus, Eagle Rock, Haynesville-Brossier) does

Oil Bearing Shale Plays in CONUS Hydraulic fracturing has been an economic boon to the states of N. Dakota, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas, new Mexico and Louisiana. Historically boom times are followed by busts. The majority of the oil and natural gas produced by hydraulic fracturing is destined for export to the Far East. Once the shale plays are played out, then the US will be in the same position as it was in the 70s.

Horizontal vs. Vertical Fracturing Vertical Fracturing consumes 140,000 gals. of water, is done at pressures of 5,000 to 9,000 psi and takes 2-3 days. Horizontal Fracturing consumes up to 1.5 million gals. of water, is done at slightly higher pressures and also takes 2-3 days.

Oil Evaporation Ponds in Kern County Oil Fields Hydraulic fracturing fluid flowback waters have been found to contain up to 700X the concentration of benzene as allowed in drinking water. There were 933 sumps found in a recent bi-agency inspection conducted by DOGGR and the RWQCB. 578 sumps were active, 355 were not being used. Of the 578 active sumps - 370 had P/Os, 208 did not. It is unclear if oil field wastes are subject to NPDES or the Clean Water Act.

Fracturing Fluids Fracturing fluids contain: (1) Mineral Acids - HCl H3PO4; (2) Biocides; (3) Corrosion inhibitors; (4) Friction reducers; (5) Gels (Guar Gum); (6) ph adjusters; (7) proppants (silica or quartz); (8) scale inhibitors; (9) surfactants; (10) iron control agents; and (11) cross linkers.

The W & Dick Nov. 5, 2000 is a blessed day in the hearts and minds of oilmen everywhere. On that day we positioned the above two gentlemen in the White and Blair Houses respectively. Soon thereafter, the top secret meetings were held with high-level energy company executives. Oil production wastes and hydraulic fracturing was exempted from the NPDES and the Clean Water Act.