West Montalvo Oil Field
The West Montalvo Oil Field is a large and productive oil field on the coast of Ventura County, California, in the United States, in and adjacent to the city of Oxnard. Discovered in 1947, it has produced approximately 43.7 million barrels (6,950,000 m3) of oil, and retains about 2.2 million recoverable with current technology, in both the onshore and offshore areas. The offshore portion of the field is exploited from wells directionally drilled from onshore near McGrath Lake, from within an enclosure above the high-tide line at McGrath State Beach. Most of the field, both onshore and offshore, is operated by Venoco, Inc., an independent petroleum company based in Denver, with an office in Carpinteria.
The West Montalvo field was also the first dry natural gas field of commercial value to be discovered in Ventura County; in its lifetime it has produced over 43 billion cubic feet (1.2×109 m3) of gas.
The oil field underlies the portion of coastline just south of the outlet of the Santa Clara River, including several state and county parks (including McGrath State Beach, Mandalay Beach Park, and Oxnard Shores Park). While parts of the oil field are within the city of Oxnard, most of it is within an unincorporated region east of the intersection of Harbor Boulevard and Gonzales Road, a mixed-use area of agricultural fields interspersed with oil wells and associated production and processing facilities. This area was designated a greenbelt through a joint agreement between the cities of Oxnard and Ventura. The terrain is almost all flat, save for berms and sand dunes at the shoreline. Elevations on the field range from sea level to about 40 feet (12 m) above sea level, and drainage is to the west and southwest, via a system of canals. Total productive area of the field is 780 acres (316 ha), with 200 of that being offshore.
Some oil field and power generation facilities are in enclosures within the parks and open spaces. Venoco operates a row of wells near McGrath Lake which drill into the offshore portion of the field; visitors to McGrath State Beach can walk past them along the beach. Reliant Energy's 560-megawatt gas-fired Mandalay Generating Station is north of and adjacent to Mandalay Beach Park. An oil-gas separator adjacent to the Mandalay plant processes gas from the offshore Santa Clara and Hueneme fields and sells the gas to Reliant for use at the power plant. Mandalay Beach Park consists of 94 acres (38 ha) of land left in its natural state, without amenities, and contains habitat for the endangered snowy plover.
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