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76-850: The Midway-Sunset Oil Field is a large oil field in Kern County , San Joaquin Valley , California in the United States. It is the largest known oilfield in California and also the largest oil field in the country by total oil in place (around 27 billion barrels of mostly heavy oil), though Alaska's Prudhoe Bay Oil Field and the East Texas Oil Field have larger total production values of over 13 billion barrels and 5.4 billion barrels respectively compared to Midway-Sunset which has produced nearly 4 billion barrels. The field

152-610: A Delaware corporation. Aera and Aera Services employ about 1,100 people and hundreds of contractor companies. The company began operating as Aera Energy LLC on June 1, 1997, and consists of the California onshore and offshore exploration and production assets previously operated by CalResources LLC (a former Shell affiliate), Mobil Exploration & Producing US Inc. (now an ExxonMobil affiliate), and ARCO . In 2017, Aera Energy launched its plan to build California's largest solar field in partnership with GlassPoint Solar. This initiative called Belridge Project covers 770 acres and it

228-891: A $ 2.1 billion, all-stock purchase acquisition of Aera. Most of Aera's production is located in the San Joaquin Valley . The company also has oil field operations in Ventura , Monterey and Fresno counties and has begun the permitting process to redevelop the East Cat Canyon oilfield in northern Santa Barbara County . Aera produces approximately 126,300 barrels of oil and 32 million cubic feet of natural gas each day, and has proved oil and natural gas reserves equivalent to approximately 536 million barrels of oil. Aera produces nearly 25 percent of California's oil and natural gas. The work force needs of Aera are provided by Aera Energy Services Company (Aera Services),

304-445: A cap rock) is a fundamental part of the trap that prevents hydrocarbons from further upward migration. A capillary seal is formed when the capillary pressure across the pore throats is greater than or equal to the buoyancy pressure of the migrating hydrocarbons. They do not allow fluids to migrate across them until their integrity is disrupted, causing them to leak. There are two types of capillary seal whose classifications are based on

380-406: A consequence, oil and natural gas are often found together. In common usage, deposits rich in oil are known as oil fields, and deposits rich in natural gas are called natural gas fields. In general, organic sediments buried in depths of 1,000 m to 6,000 m (at temperatures of 60 ° C to 150 °C) generate oil, while sediments buried deeper and at higher temperatures generate natural gas. The deeper

456-407: A few, very large offshore drilling rigs, due to the cost and logistical difficulties in working over water. Rising gas prices in the early 21st century encouraged drillers to revisit fields that previously were not considered economically viable. For example, in 2008 McMoran Exploration passed a drilling depth of over 32,000 feet (9754 m) (the deepest test well in the history of gas production) at

532-493: A gravity higher than 45 API. Gas cycling is the process where dry gas is injected and produced along with condensed liquid. Aera Energy LLC Aera Energy LLC (or simply Aera ) is a natural gas, oil exploration and production company started as a joint venture between Shell plc (through Shell USA ) and Mobil (which later merged to form ExxonMobil ). Headquartered in Bakersfield, California , Aera Energy LLC

608-471: A result of changes in the structure of the subsurface from processes such as folding and faulting , leading to the formation of domes , anticlines , and folds. Examples of this kind of trap are an anticline trap, a fault trap, and a salt dome trap. They are more easily delineated and more prospective than their stratigraphic counterparts, with the majority of the world's petroleum reserves being found in structural traps. Stratigraphic traps are formed as

684-435: A result of lateral and vertical variations in the thickness, texture, porosity, or lithology of the reservoir rock. Examples of this type of trap are an unconformity trap, a lens trap and a reef trap. Hydrodynamic traps are a far less common type of trap. They are caused by the differences in water pressure, that are associated with water flow, creating a tilt of the hydrocarbon-water contact. The seal (also referred to as

760-502: A significantly higher displacement pressure such that the pressure required for tension fracturing is actually lower than the pressure required for fluid displacement—for example, in evaporites or very tight shales. The rock will fracture when the pore pressure is greater than both its minimum stress and its tensile strength then reseal when the pressure reduces and the fractures close. Unconventional (oil & gas) reservoirs are accumulations where oil and gas phases are tightly bound to

836-412: Is a California limited liability company , and one of California's largest oil and natural gas producers, with an approximate 2015 revenues of over $ 2 billion. Aera is operated as a stand-alone company through its board of managers. In August 2022, IKAV, a European investment company, announced it was buying Aera from Shell and ExxonMobil. In July 2024, California Resources Corporation completed

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912-489: Is also used to boost reservoir pressures. As the Midway-Sunset field has a large amount of heavy oil requiring steam to allow its recovery, many of the field operators have built cogeneration plants to both sell power to the electric grid and create steam for their operations. This kind of power plant burns natural gas, abundantly available on site, and converts the energy into both electricity and steam used to flood

988-405: Is an area of accumulated liquid petroleum underground in multiple (potentially linked) reservoirs, trapped as it rises to impermeable rock formations. In industrial terms, an oil field implies that there is an economic benefit worthy of commercial attention. Oil fields may extend up to several hundred kilometers across the surface, meaning that extraction efforts can be large and spread out across

1064-402: Is analogous to saying that the oil which can be extracted forms within the source rock itself, as opposed to accumulating under a cap rock. Oil sands are an example of an unconventional oil reservoir. Unconventional reservoirs and their associated unconventional oil encompass a broad spectrum of petroleum extraction and refinement techniques, as well as many different sources. Since the oil

1140-403: Is being pursued at a higher rate because of the scarcity of conventional reservoirs around the world. After the discovery of a reservoir, a petroleum engineer will seek to build a better picture of the accumulation. In a simple textbook example of a uniform reservoir, the first stage is to conduct a seismic survey to determine the possible size of the trap. Appraisal wells can be used to determine

1216-452: Is best to manage the gas cap effectively, that is, placing the oil wells such that the gas cap will not reach them until the maximum amount of oil is produced. Also a high production rate may cause the gas to migrate downward into the production interval. In this case, over time the reservoir pressure depletion is not as steep as in the case of solution-based gas drive. In this case, the oil rate will not decline as steeply but will depend also on

1292-426: Is called the stock tank oil initially in place . As a result of studying factors such as the permeability of the rock (how easily fluids can flow through the rock) and possible drive mechanisms, it is possible to estimate the recovery factor, or what proportion of oil in place can be reasonably expected to be produced. The recovery factor is commonly 30–35%, giving a value for the recoverable resources. The difficulty

1368-442: Is constructed to assist the company's oil extraction process and make it more sustainable. The Coles Levee Ecosystem Preserve, located about 20 miles (32 km) southwest of Bakersfield , consists of 6,059 acres (24.52 km ) of habitat. More than a dozen rare, threatened and endangered birds, animals and plant life can be found in the preserve. The preserve encompasses the last two miles (3 km) of riparian habitat along

1444-490: Is contained within the source rock, unconventional reservoirs require that the extracting entity function as a mining operation rather than drilling and pumping like a conventional reservoir. This has tradeoffs, with higher post-production costs associated with complete and clean extraction of oil being a factor of consideration for a company interested in pursuing a reservoir. Tailings are also left behind, increasing cleanup costs. Despite these tradeoffs, unconventional oil

1520-649: Is shared between Iran and Qatar . The second largest natural gas field is the Urengoy gas field , and the third largest is the Yamburg gas field , both in Russia . Like oil, natural gas is often found underwater in offshore gas fields such as the North Sea , Corrib Gas Field off Ireland , and near Sable Island . The technology to extract and transport offshore natural gas is different from land-based fields. It uses

1596-413: Is that reservoirs are not uniform. They have variable porosities and permeabilities and may be compartmentalized, with fractures and faults breaking them up and complicating fluid flow. For this reason, computer modeling of economically viable reservoirs is often carried out. Geologists, geophysicists, and reservoir engineers work together to build a model that allows simulation of the flow of fluids in

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1672-940: Is usually necessary to drill into the Earth's crust, although surface oil seeps exist in some parts of the world, such as the La Brea Tar Pits in California and numerous seeps in Trinidad . Factors that affect the quantity of recoverable hydrocarbons in a reservoir include the fluid distribution in the reservoir, initial volumes of fluids in place, reservoir pressure, fluid and rock properties, reservoir geometry, well type, well count, well placement, development concept, and operating philosophy. Modern production includes thermal , gas injection , and chemical methods of extraction to enhance oil recovery. A virgin reservoir may be under sufficient pressure to push hydrocarbons to

1748-620: The Chevron Corporation . Other operators on the field included large firms such as Occidental Petroleum and Plains Exploration & Production , as well as numerous independents, such as Holmes Western Oil Corporation, Berry Petroleum , E&B Natural Resources, Crimson Resource Management. As of the end of 2008, the most recent date for which data was available, the field contained 11,494 producing wells, more than any other oil field in California (the Kern River Field

1824-745: The Kern River , where it drains into Buena Vista Lake. Established in 1992 by ARCO and the California Department of Fish and Game , the preserve was acquired by Aera in 1998. The preserve is largely riparian habitat and is surrounded by active oil fields (the North Coles Levee Oil Field and South Coles Levee Oil Field, as well as the Elk Hills Oil Field to the west, operated by California Resources Corporation. As oil and gas production declines in

1900-564: The Los Angeles Basin , Aera is planning to develop some property holdings in Orange and Los Angeles counties for residential, commercial, and recreation uses while setting aside large portions of its property as natural open space. The company calls this initiative Brea 265, which aims to develop former oil fields into residential areas. The master planned community of Vista Del Verde, Aera's first real estate development, followed

1976-747: The Temblor Range to the southwest. Most of the oil field is in the Midway Valley and the northeastern foothills of the Temblor Range. To the northeast are the Buena Vista Hills , paralleling the Midway Valley and the Temblors ; the mostly exhausted, and partially abandoned Buena Vista Oil Field lies beneath this adjacent low range of hills. State Route 33 runs along the axis of the Midway-Sunset for much of its length, and

2052-560: The aquatic ecosystem , which is usually a sea but might also be a river, lake, coral reef, or algal mat , the formation of an oil or gas reservoir also requires a sedimentary basin that passes through four steps: Timing is also an important consideration; it is suggested that the Ohio River Valley could have had as much oil as the Middle East at one time, but that it escaped due to a lack of traps. The North Sea , on

2128-407: The buoyancy forces driving the upward migration of hydrocarbons through a permeable rock cannot overcome the capillary forces of a sealing medium. The timing of trap formation relative to that of petroleum generation and migration is crucial to ensuring a reservoir can form. Petroleum geologists broadly classify traps into three categories that are based on their geological characteristics:

2204-439: The 1890s and cattle grazing operations since the 1850s. Aera is pursuing approvals to develop this property for residential and commercial uses while devoting more than 1,500 acres (6.1 km ) to recreation uses and open space restoration. The project will also preserve and enhance a wildlife corridor to improve regional open space connectivity. Aera owns a 50 percent interest in approximately 400 acres (1.6 km ) known as

2280-590: The 20th century, with new discoveries still occurring in the 1980s. Most reservoirs occur in the Miocene -age Monterey Formation , with depths usually to 4,900 feet (1,500 m), although one discovery, the "PULV" Pool of 1979, was 8,700 feet (2,700 m) below ground surface. The only well developed at this depth, and the only well in the PULV pool, was abandoned a year after it was drilled. The principal operators of Midway-Sunset, as of 2008, were Aera Energy LLC and

2356-671: The Blackbeard site in the Gulf of Mexico. ExxonMobil 's drill rig there had reached 30,000 feet by 2006, without finding gas, before it abandoned the site. Crude oil is found in all oil reservoirs formed in the Earth's crust from the remains of once-living things. Evidence indicates that millions of years of heat and pressure changed the remains of microscopic plants and animals into oil and natural gas. Roy Nurmi, an interpretation adviser for Schlumberger oil field services company, described

Midway-Sunset Oil Field - Misplaced Pages Continue

2432-740: The Dome Project by Nuevo Energy (now Plains Exploration & Production ); Aera Energy LLC ; Midset Cogeneration; the Arco Oxford plant near Fellows ; a Chevron plant in the hills south of Taft; the M.H. Whittier plant east of Taft ; and the Monarch, Berry Petroleum, and Chalk Cliff Cogeneration plants between Maricopa and Taft. The Midway-Sunset field continued as California's top producing field in 2012, with 29.3 million barrels (4,660,000 m) produced, down from 30.6 million barrels (4,870,000 m) in 2011. The estimated ultimate size of

2508-487: The Midway-Sunset oilfield resource has been repeatedly raised during its more than 120 years of production. The first published estimate of its size was just under 1,000 million barrels (160,000,000 m) in the 1930s. New reservoirs continued to be discovered into the 1950s. In the early 1960s, operators began pilot cyclic steam injection , which proved successful, and steam flooding in the 1960s and 70s worked even better. Reserves were revised upward repeatedly beginning in

2584-527: The Newport Banning Ranch property on the western edge of the city of Newport Beach . Aera is a participant in Newport Banning Ranch, LLC, which has submitted a proposal to build 1,375 homes, parks, a coastal inn, and a small commercial center on about 153 acres (0.62 km ) of the site, while preserving and restoring more than 55 percent of the property for open space and wildlife habitat uses. The project would remove oil facilities and restore

2660-410: The actual capacity. Laboratory testing can determine the characteristics of the reservoir fluids, particularly the expansion factor of the oil, or how much the oil expands when brought from the high pressure and high temperature of the reservoir to a "stock tank" at the surface. With such information, it is possible to estimate how many "stock tank" barrels of oil are located in the reservoir. Such oil

2736-449: The area. In addition to extraction equipment, there may be exploratory wells probing the edges to find more reservoir area, pipelines to transport the oil elsewhere, and support facilities. Oil fields can occur anywhere that the geology of the underlying rock allows, meaning that certain fields can be far away from civilization, including at sea. Creating an operation at an oil field can be a logistically complex undertaking, as it involves

2812-512: The decommissioning and cleanup of the 850-acre (3.4 km ) Yorba Linda oil field. The community includes housing, parks, an elementary school, and a city-owned golf course, Black Gold Golf Club. As part of the development, Aera added more than 1,000 acres (4.0 km ) of adjacent, company-owned land to the Chino Hills State Park , and provided funding for the restoration, enhancement, and maintenance of native habitats within

2888-561: The end of 2009, 2,500 million barrels (400,000,000 m) of oil had been extracted from the field, leaving an estimated 576 million barrels (91,600,000 m) of recoverable oil remaining. The remaining oil amounted to 17% of California's total estimated reserve of 3.0 billion barrels (480,000,000 m). 35°07′48″N 119°27′39″W  /  35.1301°N 119.4608°W  / 35.1301; -119.4608 Oil field Reservoirs are broadly classified as conventional and unconventional reservoirs. In conventional reservoirs,

2964-430: The equipment associated with extraction and transportation, as well as infrastructure such as roads and housing for workers. This infrastructure has to be designed with the lifespan of the oil field in mind, as production can last many years. Several companies, such as Hill International , Bechtel , Esso , Weatherford International , Schlumberger , Baker Hughes and Halliburton , have organizations that specialize in

3040-673: The farm. In 2004, a Kern County Superior Court jury awarded the Fred Starrh family more than $ 7 million, though they originally sought $ 3 to $ 4 billion for damages and cleanup. Both sides appealed to the California Court of Appeal , Fifth District. The Court granted a partial directed verdict and ordered a new trial. In 2009, Starrh refiled the lawsuit in the Kern County Superior Court. There were two subsequent jury trials, in 2009 and 2013. Aera Energy

3116-402: The gas bubbles drive the oil to the surface. The bubbles then reach critical saturation and flow together as a single gas phase. Beyond this point and below this pressure, the gas phase flows out more rapidly than the oil because of its lowered viscosity. More free gas is produced, and eventually the energy source is depleted. In some cases depending on the geology the gas may migrate to the top of

Midway-Sunset Oil Field - Misplaced Pages Continue

3192-684: The globe, on land and offshore. The largest are the Ghawar Field in Saudi Arabia and the Burgan Field in Kuwait , with more than 66 to 104 billion barrels (9.5×10 m ) estimated in each. In the modern age, the location of oil fields with proven oil reserves is a key underlying factor in many geopolitical conflicts. Natural gas originates by the same geological thermal cracking process that converts kerogen to petroleum. As

3268-631: The heavy oil reservoir in the field itself. One of the largest of these, a 225-megawatt facility, was built by the Sun Cogeneration Company and a subsidiary of Southern California Edison on the western boundary of the field, along Crocker Springs Road. A construction permit was approved in 1987 and the plant began operation two years later; it is now known as the Midway-Sunset Cogeneration Company. The State Energy Commission only allowed construction of

3344-575: The large-scale construction of the infrastructure to support oil field exploitation. The term "oilfield" can be used as a shorthand to refer to the entire petroleum industry . However, it is more accurate to divide the oil industry into three sectors: upstream ( crude oil production from wells and separation of water from oil ), midstream (pipeline and tanker transport of crude oil) and downstream ( refining of crude oil to products, marketing of refined products, and transportation to oil stations). More than 65,000 oil fields are scattered around

3420-534: The last to be discovered). Throughout the field, the Tulare is often the capping impermeable formation, underneath which oil collects, but in some areas it is a productive unit in its own right. Its average depth is 200 to 1,400 feet (60 to 430 m). One of the next reservoirs to be discovered was the Gusher Pool, which, when found in 1909, took its name from the event itself: a large oil gusher. This occurrence

3496-603: The late 1960s (see chart, left). An upward revision in 1991 of 500 million barrels (79,000,000 m) of oil was followed in 1999 by another jump in reserves of more than 700 million barrels (110,000,000 m). From 1988 to 1998, about 80 percent of the oil produced at Midway-Sunset (477 million barrels (75,800,000 m) of 600 million barrels (95,000,000 m) produced) was "incremental" production attributable to enhanced recovery. It seems likely that additional reserve additions can be made, if operators are successful in further improving enhanced oil recovery techniques. Through

3572-434: The liquid sections applying extra pressure. This is present in the reservoir if there is more gas than can be dissolved in the reservoir. The gas will often migrate to the crest of the structure. It is compressed on top of the oil reserve, as the oil is produced the cap helps to push the oil out. Over time the gas cap moves down and infiltrates the oil, and the well will produce more and more gas until it produces only gas. It

3648-438: The location of oil-water contact and with it the height of the oil bearing sands. Often coupled with seismic data, it is possible to estimate the volume of an oil-bearing reservoir. The next step is to use information from appraisal wells to estimate the porosity of the rock. The porosity of an oil field, or the percentage of the total volume that contains fluids rather than solid rock, is 20–35% or less. It can give information on

3724-540: The most densely developed part of the field, and rejoins Route 33 just south of Derby Acres . Crocker Springs Road, which passes over the Temblor Range to the Carrizo Plain , intersects Mocal Road about 2 miles (3.2 km) south of its intersection with Route 33. Another public road that passes through part of the Midway-Sunset Field is Petroleum Club Road, which runs southeast from Taft, and passes

3800-403: The naturally occurring hydrocarbons, such as crude oil ( petroleum ) or natural gas , are trapped by overlying rock formations with lower permeability , while in unconventional reservoirs the rocks have high porosity and low permeability, which keeps the hydrocarbons trapped in place, therefore not requiring a cap rock . Reservoirs are found using hydrocarbon exploration methods. An oil field

3876-438: The oil and form a secondary gas cap. Some energy may be supplied by water, gas in water, or compressed rock. These are usually minor contributions with respect to hydrocarbon expansion. By properly managing the production rates, greater benefits can be had from solution-gas drives. Secondary recovery involves the injection of gas or water to maintain reservoir pressure. The gas/oil ratio and the oil production rate are stable until

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3952-724: The other hand, endured millions of years of sea level changes that successfully resulted in the formation of more than 150 oil fields. Although the process is generally the same, various environmental factors lead to the creation of a wide variety of reservoirs. Reservoirs exist anywhere from the land surface to 30,000 ft (9,000 m) below the surface and are a variety of shapes, sizes, and ages. In recent years, igneous reservoirs have become an important new field of oil exploration, especially in trachyte and basalt formations. These two types of reservoirs differ in oil content and physical properties like fracture connectivity, pore connectivity, and rock porosity . A trap forms when

4028-473: The park. Two additional real estate projects are being planned. The Aera Master Planned Community would develop approximately 3,000 acres (12 km ) of company-owned land in unincorporated Los Angeles and Orange counties, approximately where the county line intersects the Orange Freeway (SR-57) . Part of the larger Brea-Olinda Oil Field , the property has been used for oil operations dating back to

4104-406: The placement of the well with respect to the gas cap. As with other drive mechanisms, water or gas injection can be used to maintain reservoir pressure. When a gas cap is coupled with water influx, the recovery mechanism can be highly efficient. Water (usually salty) may be present below the hydrocarbons. Water, as with all liquids, is compressible to a small degree. As the hydrocarbons are depleted,

4180-519: The plant after environmental mitigation measures, including habitat protection for several endangered species living in the vicinity, including the San Joaquin kit fox . In 2008, the company operating the plant refunded $ 85.7 million to the State of California in a claim lingering from the time of the 2000–2001 California Energy Crisis . Other cogeneration plants on the Midway-Sunset field include

4256-431: The preferential mechanism of leaking: the hydraulic seal and the membrane seal. A membrane seal will leak whenever the pressure differential across the seal exceeds the threshold displacement pressure, allowing fluids to migrate through the pore spaces in the seal. It will leak just enough to bring the pressure differential below that of the displacement pressure and will reseal. A hydraulic seal occurs in rocks that have

4332-429: The pressure. As the reservoir depletes, the pressure falls below the bubble point , and the gas comes out of solution to form a gas cap at the top. This gas cap pushes down on the liquid helping to maintain pressure. This occurs when the natural gas is in a cap below the oil. When the well is drilled the lowered pressure above means that the oil expands. As the pressure is reduced it reaches bubble point, and subsequently

4408-485: The process as follows: Plankton and algae, proteins and the life that's floating in the sea, as it dies, falls to the bottom, and these organisms are going to be the source of our oil and gas. When they're buried with the accumulating sediment and reach an adequate temperature, something above 50 to 70 °C they start to cook. This transformation, this change, changes them into the liquid hydrocarbons that move and migrate, will become our oil and gas reservoir. In addition to

4484-491: The reduction in pressure in the reservoir allows the water to expand slightly. Although this unit expansion is minute, if the aquifer is large enough this will translate into a large increase in volume, which will push up on the hydrocarbons, maintaining pressure. With a water-drive reservoir, the decline in reservoir pressure is very slight; in some cases, the reservoir pressure may remain unchanged. The gas/oil ratio also remains stable. The oil rate will remain fairly stable until

4560-408: The reservoir pressure drops below the bubble point when critical gas saturation is reached. When the gas is exhausted, the gas/oil ratio and the oil rate drops, the reservoir pressure has been reduced, and the reservoir energy is exhausted. In reservoirs already having a gas cap (the virgin pressure is already below bubble point), the gas cap expands with the depletion of the reservoir, pushing down on

4636-409: The reservoir, leading to an improved estimate of the recoverable resources. Reserves are only the part of those recoverable resources that will be developed through identified and approved development projects. Because the evaluation of reserves has a direct impact on the company or the asset value, it usually follows a strict set of rules or guidelines. To obtain the contents of the oil reservoir, it

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4712-410: The rock fabric by strong capillary forces, requiring specialised measures for evaluation and extraction. Unconventional reservoirs form in completely different ways to conventional reservoirs, the main difference being that they do not have "traps". This type of reservoir can be driven in a unique way as well, as buoyancy might not be the driving force for oil and gas accumulation in such reservoirs. This

4788-662: The site of the Lakeview Gusher . While the Midway-Sunset field is a large contiguous area covering more than 30 square miles (80 km), it comprises 22 identifiable and separately-named reservoirs in six geologic formations, ranging in age from the Pleistocene Tulare Formation (the most recent geologically, the closest to the surface, and the first to be discovered), to the Temblor Formation , of Miocene age (the oldest, and one of

4864-410: The source, the "drier" the gas (that is, the smaller the proportion of condensates in the gas). Because both oil and natural gas are lighter than water, they tend to rise from their sources until they either seep to the surface or are trapped by a non-permeable stratigraphic trap. They can be extracted from the trap by drilling. The largest natural gas field is South Pars/Asalouyeh gas field, which

4940-454: The structural trap, the stratigraphic trap, and the far less common hydrodynamic trap . The trapping mechanisms for many petroleum reservoirs have characteristics from several categories and can be known as a combination trap. Traps are described as structural traps (in deformed strata such as folds and faults) or stratigraphic traps (in areas where rock types change, such as unconformities, pinch-outs and reefs). Structural traps are formed as

5016-460: The surface of most of the oil operations areas on the property, consolidating the remaining oil operations to two sites totaling about 20 acres (81,000 m ). A lawsuit, filed October 2001, alleged Aera Energy allowed 600 million barrels of oil wastewater to seep into the subsurface aquifers of the Starrh Farms after putting oil drilling waste into a mile of unlined percolation ponds near

5092-452: The surface. As the fluids are produced, the pressure will often decline, and production will falter. The reservoir may respond to the withdrawal of fluid in a way that tends to maintain the pressure. Artificial drive methods may be necessary. This mechanism (also known as depletion drive) depends on the associated gas of the oil. The virgin reservoir may be entirely semi-liquid but will be expected to have gaseous hydrocarbons in solution due to

5168-677: The towns of Taft , Maricopa , and Fellows are built directly on the oil field. Other oil fields along Route 33 going northwest within Kern County include the Cymric Oil Field , McKittrick Oil Field , and the large South Belridge Oil Field . Route 33 is not the only public road through the field: roughly paralleling 33, but closer to the Temblor Range, is Midoil Road, which winds through the field and along its southwestern boundary. The road commences from Taft Heights , passes through Fellows, and joins Mocal Road, which passes through

5244-407: The water begins to be produced along with the oil, the recovery rate may become uneconomical owing to the higher lifting and water disposal costs. If the natural drives are insufficient, as they very often are, then the pressure can be artificially maintained by injecting water into the aquifer or gas into the gas cap. The force of gravity will cause the oil to move downward of the gas and upward of

5320-431: The water reaches the well. In time, the water cut will increase, and the well will be watered out. The water may be present in an aquifer (but rarely one replenished with surface water ). This water gradually replaces the volume of oil and gas that is produced out of the well, given that the production rate is equivalent to the aquifer activity. That is, the aquifer is being replenished from some natural water influx. If

5396-442: The water. If vertical permeability exists then recovery rates may be even better. These occur if the reservoir conditions allow the hydrocarbons to exist as a gas. Retrieval is a matter of gas expansion. Recovery from a closed reservoir (i.e., no water drive) is very good, especially if bottom hole pressure is reduced to a minimum (usually done with compressors at the wellhead). Any produced liquids are light-colored to colorless, with

5472-482: Was awarded a NAME Award. Aera is the first oil exploration and production company to win the award previously given only to manufacturing organizations. In 2011 Aera's development team was awarded the Association for Manufacturing Excellence (AME) Manufacturing Excellence Award. Aera is the first energy company to receive the award. Aera Energy is depicted as "Shore Oil" in the 2019 American film, The Devil Has

5548-472: Was discovered in 1894, and through the end of 2023 had produced close to 4 billion barrels (640,000,000 m) of oil. At the end of 2008 its estimated reserves amounted to approximately 532 million barrels (84,600,000 m), 18% of California's estimated total. The oil field runs southeast to northwest, with a length of approximately 20 miles (30 km) and a width of 3 to 4 miles (5 to 6 km), from east of Maricopa to south of McKittrick , paralleling

5624-485: Was eclipsed spectacularly the next year, when drillers found the Lakeview Pool, unexpectedly drilling into a reservoir of oil under intense pressure, later estimated at approximately 1,300 psi (9.0 MPa) from the heights attained by the spewing oil. The resulting Lakeview Gusher was the longest-lasting and most productive oil gusher in U.S. history. Drillers continued to find new oil reservoirs throughout

5700-557: Was found liable and ordered to pay $ 9 million. Aera Energy is also involved in a legal tussle with the state of California over its de facto ban on fracking , an oil field extraction technique. In 2021, Aera filed a lawsuit against the state after it denied 49 of its fracking permit applications based on climate change concerns. In 2002 Aera's Belridge Producing Complex won the prestigious North American Maintenance Excellence (NAME) Award for its maintenance and reliability program and results. In 2004 Aera's North Midway Sunset Unit

5776-454: Was second at 9,689). A traveler along State Route 33 between Maricopa and McKittrick will see hundreds of pumpjacks , the relatively small proportion of the oil wells that are visible from the highway. Several enhanced oil recovery technologies have been employed at Midway-Sunset. Since the oil is heavy, and does not flow freely, it can be assisted by thermal methods, which include steamflooding, cyclic steam, and fire flooding . Waterflooding

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