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SoCal wells being returned to service
Rising petroleum demand and new technologies are prompting companies to press abandoned Southern California oil wells back into service, according to industry experts.
In recent months, “we’ve had companies putting 45-year-old wells back into production,” said Rock Zierman, spokesman for the California Independent Petroleum Association.
Southern California has about 4,000 active oil wells, down from a peak of 33,000. About 3,000 wells are abandoned statewide but that number could drop to zero, predicted Iraj Ershagi, director of the petroleum engineering program at the University of Southern California. Many wells abandoned too soon Many of the wells were abandoned too soon, he said.
“In L.A., we’ve shut down many wells after only 20 percent to 25 percent of the oil is extracted. That’s ridiculous,” Ershagi said. Using current technology, about 50 percent of a reserve can be drained before a well is plugged, he said.
Oil wells once colonized some Southern California beaches, and so many sprouted up on Signal Hill that it was nicknamed Porcupine Hill.
Public opinion began to turn against drilling following a massive 1969 oil spill that tarred the Santa Barbara shoreline. Oil companies began replacing rigs with houses and strip malls as oil prices plummeted and land values and environmental restrictions soared. A lot of oil left Still, rigs ranging from grasshopper-like pumps to giant derricks continue to dot the Southern California landscape.
They suck crude from the ground behind backyards in Signal Hill, masquerade as tropical islands in the ocean off Long Beach and one is disguised as a decorated tower at Beverly Hills High School.
Rich Baker, who oversees the Southern California branch of the state Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources, said people might start tearing down houses to drill for oil if crude prices climb high enough.
“It’s happened before and there’s still a lot of oil left,” he said.
Tearing down homes wouldn’t be necessary, Ershagi said. Modern slant-angle drills can reach oil pools six miles from the actual pump, he said.
But that method is expensive, so some operators prefer reviving abandoned wells.
—The Associated Press
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