Part of that story is contained in the history of five of the states major oil fieldsthe lance creek, elk basin, oregon basin, grass creek and big muddy fields. The phase 2 area covers the northwest and western areas of the elk hills oil field. Week 5 june 1017 regional geology of the northern rockies iv. They are printed on a usgs topographic map base in a consistent full color scheme at uniform scales of 1. Elk hills oil field in californias san joaquin valley ranks among the most productive oil fields in the united states. The primary reservoir is the pennsylvanian paradox formation. Mitigation action plan sale of naval petroleum reserve. The areal extent of the proposed ae is 17,639 acres.
The town of mckittrick overlies the northeastern portion of the oil field. The mckittrick oil field is a large oil and gas field in western kern county, california. Geological survey of the geology and geophysics of the elk hills oil field u. Cooperative development plan for buena vista hills oil and. He is a california state registered geologist and a member of the spe, aapg, and the local chapter of the spwla. Oil field production geology geoscienceworld books.
Oil reserves will also continue to be added in fields within the san joaquin basin that were. Crown 2016 detrital zircon geochronology of roof pendants, southern sierra nevada batholith, tulare county, california. There is a lot of outdoor opportunity since most of it is public land managed by the bureau of reclamation, wyoming state parks, blm, forest service. He has spent the past 18 years working for aera on the diatomite reservoirs at the belridge field doing reservoir characterization and field studies. A light oil steamflood pilot losf in the shallow oil zone soz is under evaluation at the naval petroleum reserve no. Productioninduced fault compartmentalization at elk hills. The site s southern boundary is formed where elk hills road intersects with skyline road, a private road, which runs eastwest just south of the proposed site. Discovered in 1911, the oil field was embroiled in a 1920sera lease scandal, returned to the management of the united states government, and privatized again in the 1990s. Early oil seeps and spectacular discoveries in the early 20th century in areas within and adjacent to elk hills led to the withdrawal of public lands in elk hills to all forms. The elk hills oil field has a complex stratigraphy compared to other nearby fields, many of which are a single large pool in a simple structural trap. The north belridge oil field is a large oil field along california state route 33 in the northwestern portion of kern county, california, about 45 miles west of bakersfield. In 1985 he published a revised manual geology in the field that continued to serve as the definitive guide to geological mapping. Does first eis analyzing impacts ofnpr1 was issued in 1979 in response to the 1976 navd petroleum reserves production acts requirement to produce oil at the maximum efficient rate. The belridge giant oil field 100 years of history and a.
Department of fish and game 1234 east shaw avenue fresno, ca 93710 contact. The shallowest formation, the tulare, was the first in which oil was found, at 1,120 feet 340 m below. Rocky mountain oilfield testing center at teapot dome oil. Several elk hills reservoirs located on two large anticlines produce from porcelanite. Stan also contributed to the geology of elk hills oil field, to alaskan nort sloph developmente and, t mano othey r areas in the search for oil an d gas. Mar 25, 2016 between 1928 and 1949, little activity occurred at the field other than quarterly pressure testing of five designated wells. March 29, 2018 epa decision on elk hills, phase 1 aquifer exemption. Media in category elk hills oil field the following 4 files are in this category, out of 4 total. Location of well 32419r, elk hills oil field, kern county, calif.
In a companion paper, we describe the geology of the naval petroleum reserve number 1 npr1 at elk hills and develop a model of the thermal evolution of the basin derived from 40 ar 39 ar thermochronometry mahon et al. The 52 mile drive from cody to the east entrance of yellowstone park is especially scenic and goes through the heart of the absaroka volcanic province along the north fork of the shoshone river. Geology and oil resources of the elk hills, california. In 1962 he published manual of field geology, which soon became a classic. The salt creek oil field around the town of midwest, wyo. Although interbedded with siliceous shale, sandstone, and dolomite, most of the porous reservoir rock is laminated porcelanite. Lithologic characteristics of pliocene rocks cored at elk hills, kern.
The official elk hills discovery well, standard oil companys hay no. The thermal and cementation histories of a sandstone. Large scale mapping of complexly folded and faulted strata. In addition, the elk hills reservoir meets all of hecas screening criteria. Fault compartmentalization in a mature clastic reservoir. Monterey formation porcelanite reservoirs of the elk hills. Malo fed gulf 2003 24 green canyon blk 654 shenzi fed gulf 35,280 2002. The elk hills oil field formerly the naval petroleum reserve no. Insights into paleoproterozoic through cretaceous provenance of the western margin of cordilleran north america and its.
In 1979, general crude and mobil oil each drilled two wells with a plan to steam, but never did so. The beartooth uplift and the yellowstone volcanic area. Mineral 1 is harder or softer than your fingernail. Discovered in 1963 by moriqui oil company, the lynch canyon oil field was abandoned in 1968 after ten productive wells had produced about 125,000 barrels of 10 gravity oil. Changes in the top 100 gas fields in 2009, the united states had 283. It explains the background to production geology in the context of oil field subsurface operations. Elk hills field is classed among the giant petroleum fields of the world. The heca project is an electric generating facility. Here we combine our new isotopic measurements with that thermal history to assess the feasibility of determining. The request for the exemption from the federal safe drinking water act swda is sent to the epa, which makes the final determination. Thirteen separate oil pools have been identified so far in the elk hills field, in rock units ranging in age from oligocene to pleistocene. Minerals hardness 1gypsum, 2halite mineral 1 is harder or softer than a penny.
The oil field underlies the elk hills, a range of low hills trending west to east with a high elevation of 1,551 feet 473 m. Elk hills, wilmington, kern front, buena vista and the delineation. Estimates of original oil in place ooip in each field. The teton range and the basin and range tectonic event. Elk hills, initially designated as naval petroleum reserve no. The purpose of this report is to describe the geology of the elk hills and the occurrence of the oil and gas, to trace the movements of oil, gas, and water in the developed areas, and to discuss the oil possibilities of the undeveloped parts. Five wyoming oil fields and the transformation of an economy. One controversia problel tham wat s hotl debatey bdy micropaleontologists over th yeare s was th relationshie p of the cantua c fauna of th lowee r eocen e t tho e canoas. It also gives practical guidelines as to how a production geologist can analyze the reservoir geology and fluid flow characteristics of an oil field with.
Paul bowles 2016 relative timing of structure growth since the deposition of the amnicola clay, elk hills, california alana m. Elk hills road is a county road, which runs northsouth through the entire elk hills oil and gas field, and forms the eastern boundary of the powerplant site. The story of wyoming in the 20th century is the story of a shift from a ranching and farming economy to an industrial one, dominated by the extraction of oil, gas and coal. Charging of elk hills reservoirs as determined by oil geochemistry. As part of the naval petroleum reserve, the field experienced limited production until the oil embargo of the 1970s, when in 1976 the field was opened to commercial production.
Elk hills, kern county, california was published in the federal register on december 19, 1997. The lost hills field also contains considerable reserves of natural gas. To the north, east, and southeast are the agricultural fields of the san joaquin valley, and to the southwest is the buena vista valley. Ultimate recoverable reserves are presently estimated to be more than 1. The purpose of this report is to describe the geology of the elk. Fossils gastropod gastropod ammonite echinid trilobite trilobite ammonite ammonite can you identify the fossils. The ehof occupies about 75 square miles as indicated in figure 1. The elk hills oil field parallels the buena vista hills a. It also has a history of clear ownership, with full documentation of storage sites and wells. Initial productivity on an oil only basis for all elk hills field wells drilled by occidental, grouped by year of. Jpg elk hills oil field, ca 509,671 bytes 1,943 x 1,270 discovered in 1911, and having a cumulative production of close to 1.
Levee, elk hills, and cymric oil fields to an outcrop section in. The field, covering nearly 75 square miles, was discovered in 1911 and has produced over 2 billion barrels of oil equivalent boe, making it one of the most productive fields in the united states. Recognized as an oil field in the 19th century, but known by native americans for thousands of years due to its tar seeps, the field is ranked 19th in california by total ultimate oil recovery, and has had a cumulative production of. The geology of the monterey is vastly different from that of the bakken. The belridge giant oil field 100 years of history and a look to a bright future malcolm e. Elk hills oil field phase 1 the california department of conservation, geologic energy management division calgem, formerly doggr division and state water resources control board on february, 2018 submitted a proposal to the u. The elk hills oil field, one of the largest oil fields in the united states, has been in operation for more than 100 years. The elk hills oil field is located southwest of bakersfield, in kern county california fig. Southwest regional partnership on carbon sequestration. In 1998, one of the field s gas wells was the site of a spectacular blowout, producing a pillar of. Rocky mountain oilfield testing center at teapot dome oil field. Teapot dome was not developed when oil demand skyrocketed during world war ii.
It is contiguous with the larger south belridge oil field to the southeast, in a region of highly productive and mature fields. It also gives practical guidelines as to how a production geologist can analyze the reservoir geology and fluid flow characteristics of an oil field with the aim of improving hydrocarbon recovery. Oil and gas production from monterey formation porcelanite at the elk hills field in californias san joaquin basin occurs from intervals that have quartzphase mineralogy. Please see part i of the fsa for the background of the. South belridge oil field wikimili, the free encyclopedia. Mitigation action plan sale of naval petroleum reserve no. Geology of the buena vista hills the buena vista hills consist of a low range in the southern portion of the sanjoaquin valley, and are roughly parallel to the adjacent temblor range to thesouth. The elk hills oil field is a large oil field in western kern county, in the elk hills of the san. Elk hills is a complex structure with multiple reservoir horizons including a highly fractured biosiliceous unit. Pdf the comparison of geological conditions of american.
The shallow oil zone is defined by the elk hills engineering committee as all oil and gas bearing rocks of pliocene age above the reef ridge shale, except the dry gas. Final staff assessment on the elk hills power project. Production at lost hills has been increasing steadily. The engineering geology field manual, in conjunction with the engineering geology office manual, forms the basis for the mutually beneficial exchange of ideas by reclamation geologists. Environmental protection agency requesting to exempt the phase 1 area of the lower tulare formation.
The elk hills field is california resources corporations crc worldclass onshore asset located 20 miles west of bakersfield in kern county. The top 100 oil fields as of december 31, 20, accounted for 20. Insights into paleoproterozoic through cretaceous provenance of the western margin of cordilleran north. There are multiple oil reservoirs at various intervals within the ehof, as well as multiple layers of stratigraphic seals overlying the oil reservoirs. The 29r ab and 31s d are the most productive porcelanite reservoirs, each having cumulative oil production of about 40 million bbl. Discussion draft of oxys proposed monitoring, reporting.
This includes the entire extent of the lower tulare formation within the phase 2 area of the field. The history of the field and its production also are set forth. Capital allocation strategies at various brent oil prices. It has had a colorful and interesting past, and now has a unique future. Discovered in 1911, and having a cumulative production of close to 1. Commission energy commission staffs evaluation of the elk hills power, llc ehp application for certification 99afc1 for the elk hills power project ehpp. Reserve growth assessment fact sheet assessment of. Biological resources, and soil and water resources. Lithologic characteristics of pliocene rocks cored at elk. The oil field is in two parts, the buena vista hills area and the buena vista front area, both roughly linear features about 12 miles 19 km long, running parallel about 2 miles 3. The elk hills oil field has a complex stratigraphy compared to other nearby fields, many of which are single large pools in simple structural traps. Discovered in 1912, it has had a cumulative production of 6,553,000 barrels 21,710,200 m 3. Oilfield waters in southwestern san joaquin valley, kern county, california.
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