Offshore oil and gas in California
Offshore oil and gas in California provides a significant portion of the state's petroleum production. Offshore oil and gas has been a contentious issue for decades, first over the question of state versus federal ownership, but since 1969 mostly over questions of resource development versus environmental protection.
Notable offshore fields include the Ellwood Oil Field and the Wilmington Oil Field, both of which are partially onshore and partially offshore, and the large Dos Cuadras Field in the Santa Barbara Channel, which is entirely in the federal zone.
State offshore seabed in California produced 37,400 barrels (5,900 m3) of oil per day, and federal offshore tracts produced 66,400 barrels (11,000 m3) of oil per day in November 2008. State and federal offshore tracts together made up 16% of the state's oil production.
Knowledge of the probable existence of oil off the coast of California dates back to the early European explorers who noted oil slicks in the Santa Barbara channel (see Coal Oil Point seep field). In 1792, when the English explorer James Cook anchored his ship in the Santa Barbara Channel, his navigator George Vancouver wrote that the sea was “... covered with a thick, slimy substance,” and added “... the sea had the appearance of dissolved tar floating on its surface, which covered the ocean in all directions within the limits of our view.”
In 1865, oil geologist Charles Jackson wrote:
A description of the oil and gas seeps offshore southern California can be found in a report on the California Division of Oil and Gas's website. The report is accompanied by a map, showing the locations of offshore petroleum seeps from Point Arguello (north of Santa Barbara) to Mexico.
Offshore drilling began in California in 1896, when operators in the Summerland Oil Field in Santa Barbara County followed the field into the ocean by drilling from piers built out over the ocean. At least 187 offshore oil wells were drilled in the Summerland Field by 1902. A number of other coastal fields were extended offshore in Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles, and Orange counties, usually by directional drilling.
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