Brea-Olinda Oil Field
Encyclopedia
The Brea-Olinda Oil Field is a large oil field
in northern Orange County
and Los Angeles County, California
, along the southern edge of the Puente Hills
, about four miles (6 km) northeast of Fullerton
, and adjacent to the city of Brea
. Discovered in 1880, the field is the sixteenth largest in California by cumulative production, and was the first of California's largest 50 oil fields to be found. p. 63 It has produced over 412 million barrels of oil in the 130 years since it was first drilled, and retains approximately 19 million barrels in reserve recoverable with current technology. As of the beginning of 2009, 475 wells remained active on the field, operated by several independent oil companies, including Linn Energy, BreitBurn Energy Partners L.P., Cooper & Brain, and Thompson Energy.DOGGR 2009, p. 115, 121, 136, 158
, which forms the southern boundary of the Puente/Chino Hills in the inland Los Angeles Basin. It is approximately six miles long overall, with a maximum width of about a mile, running from northwest to southeast, and covering approximately 2000 acres (8.1 km²). Other oil fields continue in both directions from the Brea-Olinda field along the fault zone, including the Sansinena field to the northwest, followed by the Whittier Oil Field, and the Yorba Linda and Esperanza fields to the southeast. Dense urban and suburban development covers the area south and southwest of the Brea-Olinda field; to the north and northeast, the hills are relatively undeveloped. Elevations on the oil field range from approximately 400 feet (121.9 m) on the valley floor in the town of Brea, to over 1400 feet (426.7 m) in the Puente Hills immediately north of the Los Angeles County line. Carbon Canyon Regional Park is adjacent to the field on the east, as is Chino Hills State Park
; the Firestone Boy Scout Reservation occupies a large area in the hills northeast of the main productive area of the field. Lambert Road in Brea, California State Route 142, follows the south edge of the field for much of its length, and the 57 Freeway
cuts across it from south to north.
Native vegetation in the hills includes coastal sage scrub
, grasslands, oak/walnut woodland, and various riparian habitats. Climate is Mediterranean
, with warm summers and cool, moist winters. Runoff from the field is to the south and southwest, either down Carbon Canyon to the Santa Ana River
, or southwest down various drainages to the San Gabriel River
. Wildfires are a frequent occurrence in the summer and autumn; the point of origin of the Landfill Fire, part of the 2008 Freeway Complex Fire
, was on the eastern portion of the field owned by BreitBurn Energy near the landfill.
beds ending at the Whittier Fault Zone, specifically at the Tonner Fault. Oil has traveled upward from its source rocks within various permeable units, usually ending at the fault when it reaches an impermeable rock type positioned there by motion along the fault. These petroleum-containing formations are themselves broken apart by faults perpendicular to the main Whittier Fault Zone, and each has different characteristics. Occasionally the petroleum-containing formations pinch out within impermeable units prior to reaching the fault. Dips within the section along the fault zone range from 45 to 90 degrees. Tar seeps at the surface – the petroleum signature that alerted early prospectors to the presence of an oil field in the area – exist where oil has found a pathway to the surface either within a permeable unit, or in the broken rock along a fault.
The principal producing formations within the Brea-Olinda field are the Repetto, the Puente, and the Puente-Topanga. Pools are named for the geologic age of the petroleum-bearing formation, and given letters: "1st, 2nd, 3rd Pliocene"; "1st, 2nd, 3rd Pliocene"; "D-1, D-2"; "E, F." The Pliocene
pool is produced from an average depth of 1800 feet (548.6 m) below ground surface; the Miocene
, 4,000; the D-1/D-2 pool, discovered in 1954, 5,000; and the E/F pool, the one discovered in 1880, is only 1200 feet (365.8 m) below ground surface. Oil is of variable gravity, with the Pliocene pool having the heaviest oil, with API gravity
of only 15-18. Sulfur content is low, and in the early days of the 20th century was the lowest of any oil produced in the state of California.
Development of the field proceeded over the next three decades, with 105 wells being drilled by 1912 in the area of Brea Canyon, at the time of the survey by the state mineralogist. Many different oil companies, some very small, were working on the field at this time.
Peak production on the field was in 1953, unusual for an old oil field in the Los Angeles Basin; most of the other fields (such as the Los Angeles City
, Salt Lake
, Beverly Hills
, Long Beach
) reached their maximum production within several years of their discovery, only attaining a secondary peak with the advent of advanced recovery technologies in the mid-20th century, but the Brea-Olinda field presented a complex geological problem, and new fault blocks continued to be found and produced throughout the first decades of the field's history. As the geology became better understood, and production improved in efficiency and drilling in precision, the overall production from the field rose.
Some enhanced recovery technologies have been used since the 1960s, particularly in the Miocene and Pliocene producing horizons. Steamflooding of the Pliocene commenced in 1973, a method useful for decreasing viscosity of heavy oil and encouraging it to flow to pumping wells. The Miocene pool has been subject to cyclic steam, steamflooding, waterflooding, and fireflooding.
Unocal operated most of the field until March 1996, at which time it sold off all of its California assets to Nuevo Energy. Nuevo operated the field for seven years, finally selling its portion of the field in 2003 for $59 million to BlackSand Partners, L.P., prior to themselves being acquired by Plains Exploration & Production
. At that time the field was producing 2,269 barrels per day. BlackSand ran operations on the field for a little over three years, and in 2006 Linn Energy bought it from BlackSand for $291 million. In February 2007 Aera Energy LLC
transferred its 654 wells on the field to Linn, leaving Linn as the largest operator on the field. As of 2009 Linn remained the principal operator with 361 active wells, followed by BreitBurn with 73 wells, Cooper & Brain with 21, and Thompson Energy Resources, LLC, with 18.
Oil field
An oil field is a region with an abundance of oil wells extracting petroleum from below ground. Because the oil reservoirs typically extend over a large area, possibly several hundred kilometres across, full exploitation entails multiple wells scattered across the area...
in northern Orange County
Orange County, California
Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...
and Los Angeles County, California
Los Angeles County, California
Los Angeles County is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of 2010 U.S. Census, the county had a population of 9,818,605, making it the most populous county in the United States. Los Angeles County alone is more populous than 42 individual U.S. states...
, along the southern edge of the Puente Hills
Puente Hills
The Puente Hills is a chain of hills, one of the lower Transverse Ranges, in an unincorporated area in eastern Los Angeles County, California.-Geography:...
, about four miles (6 km) northeast of Fullerton
Fullerton, California
Fullerton is a city located in northern Orange County, California. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 135,161.It was founded in 1887 by George and Edward Amerige and named for George H. Fullerton, who secured the land on behalf of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway...
, and adjacent to the city of Brea
Brea, California
Brea is a city in Orange County, California. The population, as of the 2010 Census was 39,282.The city began as a center of crude oil production, was later propelled by citrus production, and is now an important retail center because of the large Brea Mall and the recently redeveloped Brea Downtown...
. Discovered in 1880, the field is the sixteenth largest in California by cumulative production, and was the first of California's largest 50 oil fields to be found. p. 63 It has produced over 412 million barrels of oil in the 130 years since it was first drilled, and retains approximately 19 million barrels in reserve recoverable with current technology. As of the beginning of 2009, 475 wells remained active on the field, operated by several independent oil companies, including Linn Energy, BreitBurn Energy Partners L.P., Cooper & Brain, and Thompson Energy.DOGGR 2009, p. 115, 121, 136, 158
Setting
The Brea-Olinda field occupies a long, narrow band along and south of the Whittier Fault ZoneWhittier Fault
The Whittier Fault is a geologic fault located in eastern Los Angeles County in Southern California, that is one of the two upper branches of the Elsinore Fault Zone, with the Chino Fault the second.-Geology:...
, which forms the southern boundary of the Puente/Chino Hills in the inland Los Angeles Basin. It is approximately six miles long overall, with a maximum width of about a mile, running from northwest to southeast, and covering approximately 2000 acres (8.1 km²). Other oil fields continue in both directions from the Brea-Olinda field along the fault zone, including the Sansinena field to the northwest, followed by the Whittier Oil Field, and the Yorba Linda and Esperanza fields to the southeast. Dense urban and suburban development covers the area south and southwest of the Brea-Olinda field; to the north and northeast, the hills are relatively undeveloped. Elevations on the oil field range from approximately 400 feet (121.9 m) on the valley floor in the town of Brea, to over 1400 feet (426.7 m) in the Puente Hills immediately north of the Los Angeles County line. Carbon Canyon Regional Park is adjacent to the field on the east, as is Chino Hills State Park
Chino Hills State Park
Chino Hills State Park is a state park of California, USA, in the Chino Hills, foothills of the Santa Ana Mountains. It is a critical link in the Chino–Puente Hills wildlife corridor, and a major botanical habitat reserve for resident and migrating wildlife....
; the Firestone Boy Scout Reservation occupies a large area in the hills northeast of the main productive area of the field. Lambert Road in Brea, California State Route 142, follows the south edge of the field for much of its length, and the 57 Freeway
California State Route 57
State Route 57 , also known as the Orange Freeway, is a north–south state highway in the Greater Los Angeles Area of the U.S. state of California. It connects the interchange of Interstate 5 and State Route 22 near downtown Orange, locally known as the Orange Crush, with the Glendora Curve...
cuts across it from south to north.
Native vegetation in the hills includes coastal sage scrub
Coastal sage scrub
Coastal sage scrub is a low scrubland plant community found in the California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion of coastal California and northern Baja California. It is characterized by low-growing aromatic, and drought-deciduous shrubs adapted to the semi-arid Mediterranean climate of the...
, grasslands, oak/walnut woodland, and various riparian habitats. Climate is Mediterranean
Mediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate is the climate typical of most of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, and is a particular variety of subtropical climate...
, with warm summers and cool, moist winters. Runoff from the field is to the south and southwest, either down Carbon Canyon to the Santa Ana River
Santa Ana River
The Santa Ana River is the largest river of Southern California in the United States. Its drainage basin spans four counties. It rises in the San Bernardino Mountains and flows past the cities of San Bernardino and Riverside, before cutting through the northern tip of the Santa Ana Mountains and...
, or southwest down various drainages to the San Gabriel River
San Gabriel River (California)
The San Gabriel River flows through southern Los Angeles County, California in the United States. Its main stem is about long, while its farthest tributaries extend almost altogether...
. Wildfires are a frequent occurrence in the summer and autumn; the point of origin of the Landfill Fire, part of the 2008 Freeway Complex Fire
Freeway Complex Fire
The Freeway Complex Fire was a wildfire in the Santa Ana Canyon area of Orange County in the US state of California. The fire is notable for the extensive property damage in Anaheim Hills and Yorba Linda...
, was on the eastern portion of the field owned by BreitBurn Energy near the landfill.
Geology
In general, the oil field consists of a series of steeply dipping sedimentarySedimentary rock
Sedimentary rock are types of rock that are formed by the deposition of material at the Earth's surface and within bodies of water. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause mineral and/or organic particles to settle and accumulate or minerals to precipitate from a solution....
beds ending at the Whittier Fault Zone, specifically at the Tonner Fault. Oil has traveled upward from its source rocks within various permeable units, usually ending at the fault when it reaches an impermeable rock type positioned there by motion along the fault. These petroleum-containing formations are themselves broken apart by faults perpendicular to the main Whittier Fault Zone, and each has different characteristics. Occasionally the petroleum-containing formations pinch out within impermeable units prior to reaching the fault. Dips within the section along the fault zone range from 45 to 90 degrees. Tar seeps at the surface – the petroleum signature that alerted early prospectors to the presence of an oil field in the area – exist where oil has found a pathway to the surface either within a permeable unit, or in the broken rock along a fault.
The principal producing formations within the Brea-Olinda field are the Repetto, the Puente, and the Puente-Topanga. Pools are named for the geologic age of the petroleum-bearing formation, and given letters: "1st, 2nd, 3rd Pliocene"; "1st, 2nd, 3rd Pliocene"; "D-1, D-2"; "E, F." The Pliocene
Pliocene
The Pliocene Epoch is the period in the geologic timescale that extends from 5.332 million to 2.588 million years before present. It is the second and youngest epoch of the Neogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Pliocene follows the Miocene Epoch and is followed by the Pleistocene Epoch...
pool is produced from an average depth of 1800 feet (548.6 m) below ground surface; the Miocene
Miocene
The Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about . The Miocene was named by Sir Charles Lyell. Its name comes from the Greek words and and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern sea invertebrates than the Pliocene. The Miocene follows the Oligocene...
, 4,000; the D-1/D-2 pool, discovered in 1954, 5,000; and the E/F pool, the one discovered in 1880, is only 1200 feet (365.8 m) below ground surface. Oil is of variable gravity, with the Pliocene pool having the heaviest oil, with API gravity
API gravity
The American Petroleum Institute gravity, or API gravity, is a measure of how heavy or light a petroleum liquid is compared to water. If its API gravity is greater than 10, it is lighter and floats on water; if less than 10, it is heavier and sinks...
of only 15-18. Sulfur content is low, and in the early days of the 20th century was the lowest of any oil produced in the state of California.
History, production, and operations
The first recorded well on the field, and the one considered to be the discovery well, was drilled by Rowland & Lacy, later to become the Puente Oil Co., in 1880. While the exact locations of the discovery well and the other earliest wells are not known, the depths have been recorded – between 150 and 260 feet (79.2 m) – insufficient to penetrate the main oil-bearing rocks, but enough to reach the tar sands which are responsible for the surface seeps that drew the first prospectors to the area.. By the mid 1880s, wells were reaching the E/F unit, which has an average depth of 1200 feet (365.8 m). This was the first commercial oil production in the Los Angeles Basin, an area which within fifteen years would become the state's most productive area, and in the early 1920s would be producing one-fifth of the world's oil.Development of the field proceeded over the next three decades, with 105 wells being drilled by 1912 in the area of Brea Canyon, at the time of the survey by the state mineralogist. Many different oil companies, some very small, were working on the field at this time.
Peak production on the field was in 1953, unusual for an old oil field in the Los Angeles Basin; most of the other fields (such as the Los Angeles City
Los Angeles City Oil Field
The Los Angeles City Oil Field is a large oil field north of Downtown Los Angeles. Long and narrow, it extends from immediately south of Dodger Stadium west to Vermont Avenue, encompassing an area of about four miles long by a quarter mile across...
, Salt Lake
Salt Lake Oil Field
The Salt Lake Oil Field is an oil field underneath the city of Los Angeles, California. Discovered in 1902, and developed quickly in the following years, the Salt Lake field was once the most productive in California; over 50 million barrels of oil have been extracted from it, mostly in the first...
, Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills Oil Field
The Beverly Hills Oil Field is a large and currently active oil field underneath part of the city of Beverly Hills, California, USA, and portions of the adjacent city of Los Angeles...
, Long Beach
Long Beach Oil Field
The Long Beach Oil Field is a large oil field underneath the cities of Long Beach and Signal Hill, California, in the United States. Discovered in 1921, the field was enormously productive in the 1920s, with hundreds of oil derricks covering Signal Hill and adjacent parts of Long Beach; largely...
) reached their maximum production within several years of their discovery, only attaining a secondary peak with the advent of advanced recovery technologies in the mid-20th century, but the Brea-Olinda field presented a complex geological problem, and new fault blocks continued to be found and produced throughout the first decades of the field's history. As the geology became better understood, and production improved in efficiency and drilling in precision, the overall production from the field rose.
Some enhanced recovery technologies have been used since the 1960s, particularly in the Miocene and Pliocene producing horizons. Steamflooding of the Pliocene commenced in 1973, a method useful for decreasing viscosity of heavy oil and encouraging it to flow to pumping wells. The Miocene pool has been subject to cyclic steam, steamflooding, waterflooding, and fireflooding.
Unocal operated most of the field until March 1996, at which time it sold off all of its California assets to Nuevo Energy. Nuevo operated the field for seven years, finally selling its portion of the field in 2003 for $59 million to BlackSand Partners, L.P., prior to themselves being acquired by Plains Exploration & Production
Plains Exploration & Production
Plains Exploration & Production, commonly known by its New York Stock Exchange ticker symbol , is a U.S. petroleum company based in Houston, Texas. A spin-off from Plains Resources, Inc., the company was founded in 2002. Its operations, as of 2009, were all in North America, including California,...
. At that time the field was producing 2,269 barrels per day. BlackSand ran operations on the field for a little over three years, and in 2006 Linn Energy bought it from BlackSand for $291 million. In February 2007 Aera Energy LLC
Aera Energy LLC
Aera Energy LLC is a natural gas, oil exploration and production company jointly owned by Shell and ExxonMobil headquartered in Bakersfield, California...
transferred its 654 wells on the field to Linn, leaving Linn as the largest operator on the field. As of 2009 Linn remained the principal operator with 361 active wells, followed by BreitBurn with 73 wells, Cooper & Brain with 21, and Thompson Energy Resources, LLC, with 18.