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101-527: The San Miguelito Oil Field is a large and currently productive oil field in the hills northwest of the city of Ventura in southern California in the United States. The field is close to the coastline, with U.S. Highway 101 running past at the base of the hills and is sandwiched between the larger Ventura Oil Field to the east and the Rincon Oil Field , which is partially offshore, to

202-565: A $ 500 million carbon dioxide flooding project in Hobbs, New Mexico . In March 2017, the company and its 50/50 joint venture partner Mexichem began operations of a 1.2-billion-pound per year capacity ethylene cracker at the OxyChem plant in Ingleside, Texas , along with pipelines and storage at Markham, Texas . In May 2016, Vicki Hollub , who had worked at Occidental since 1981 and joined

303-445: 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

404-406: 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

505-745: A controlling stake. The 1960s marked a period of expansion as Occidental established operations in Peru , Venezuela , Bolivia , Trinidad , and the United Kingdom . In 1961, the company discovered the Lathrop Gas Field in Lathrop, California . In 1965, Occidental won exploration rights in Libya , where it operated until 1986 when United States economic sanctions led to the suspension of activities. The company diversified in 1968 by entering

606-518: A demonstration project by 2025 and a commercial facility in the 2030s. The company began operations in Libya in 1965 and operated there until economic sanctions were imposed in 1986 by the United States. The company was one of the first American companies to resume negotiations in Libya after the sanctions were lifted in 2004. In 2008, the company, along with 5 other oil companies, was criticized for hiring Hogan Lovells to lobby to exempt Libya from

707-407: 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

808-471: A gravity higher than 45 API. Gas cycling is the process where dry gas is injected and produced along with condensed liquid. Occidental Petroleum Occidental Petroleum Corporation (often abbreviated Oxy in reference to its ticker symbol and logo) is an American company engaged in hydrocarbon exploration in the United States and the Middle East as well as petrochemical manufacturing in

909-525: A law written by U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) to assist American terror victims in seizing assets of countries found culpable in terror attacks, such as the Libyan bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie in 1988. and to remove a provision in the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act that requires disclosure of payments to foreign governments. In early 2011,

1010-483: A memorandum of understanding with TAE Technologies to explore commercial opportunities for using TAE's nuclear fusion technology to provide clean electricity and heat for Occidental's direct air capture (DAC) projects. DAC is an energy-intensive process that involves removing CO 2 from the atmosphere, and the partnership aims to address the energy needs of DAC with low-carbon power solutions. TAE Technologies, known for its advanced nuclear fusion research, plans to have

1111-471: 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

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1212-435: 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

1313-416: A ridgeline about a half mile from the ocean, about 800 feet (240 m) above sea level. It flowed over 600 barrels a day, and development of the field began. In 1944 the 2nd Grubb Zone was discovered, and in 1950, the 3rd Grubb. Peak production from the field was in 1951 at 4.5 million barrels of oil. Further zones were discovered, with the 4th Grubb coming online in 1970, and the 5th Grubb in 1979. By 1983,

1414-502: 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

1515-614: A total of 9 billion barrels (1.4 × 10 ^  m ) of toxic oil by-products , such as cadmium , lead, and arsenic , in drainage basins used by the Achuar people to fish, drink, and bathe. This environmental damage was alleged to have caused premature deaths and birth defects . A 2006 study by the Ministry of Health of Peru , found that all but 2 of the 199 people tested had levels of cadmium in their blood above safe levels. The Achuar were represented by EarthRights International and

1616-650: Is a chemical mixture of sulfuric acid and sulfur trioxide . The accident contaminated the ventilation system and caused a cloud of toxic gas. Over 2,000 residents had to be evacuated for the day. The spill was caused by an auxiliary pump power supply which lacked safety interlocks to prevent tank overfilling. On 14 June 1997, an explosion at the Magurchhaqra gas field in Kamalganj Upazila, Moulvibazar District of Bangladesh destroyed large areas of Lawachara National Park and nearby areas. Occidental

1717-698: Is an accumulation of oil along the westernmost portion of the Ventura anticline , bounded on the north by the Grubb Thrust Fault, where the fault has pushed another closed anticline above the end of the Ventura Anticline. Petroleum-bearing units are sands of Pliocene and Miocene age, and are given numerical designations increasing with depth: 1st Grubb, 2nd Grubb, down to 5th Grubb (as well as an additional "Grubb D" zone for units lower than 5th Grubb). These units are present on either side of

1818-405: 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

1919-402: 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

2020-403: 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

2121-452: 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

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2222-426: 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

2323-490: 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

2424-576: Is medium grade with an API gravity of 31 in the first four Grubb zones, 25 in the 5th. While the adjacent large Ventura Avenue oil field was discovered in 1919, it was not until 1931 that prospectors thought of searching for oil near the western end of the Ventura Anticline, where the borehole had to reach a considerable depth before finding oil. The discovery well for the field was the Continental Oil Co. "Grubb No. 1", which reached 7,623 feet (2,323 m) below ground surface, drilling from

2525-686: Is one way it helps mitigate its high emissions. In 1982, the company acquired land in the Copper Basin in Tennessee , formerly the site of the Burra Burra Mine , where copper and sulfur had been mined in the 1800s. In 2016, Occidental agreed to spend $ 50 million to clean up the Copper Basin and restore the water quality of its creeks. Since the 1920s, several companies and the United States Armed Forces used

2626-649: 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

2727-413: 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

2828-420: Is the largest operator and oil producer. The company produced 435 thousand barrels of oil equivalent (2,660,000 GJ) per day from unconventional oil directional drilling via Permian Resources and 140 thousand barrels of oil equivalent (860,000 GJ) per day using a technique called enhanced oil recovery , whereby carbon dioxide and water are injected into underground formations to extract

2929-940: 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

3030-558: The Deepwater Horizon BP disaster and fines under the Clean Water Act. The deal was clinched as investor and Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett pledged $ 10 billion to finance the deal in exchange for 100,000 shares of cumulative perpetual preferred stock with a value of $ 100,000 per share. Buffett and Berkshire also received a warrant to purchase up to 80 million more shares at an exercise price of $ 62.50

3131-457: The Love Canal as a chemical disposal site. In 1942, Occidental predecessor Hooker Chemical Company began disposing of chemical waste at the site and, in 1947, it became the sole owner and user of the land. In 1952, the site was filled to capacity and closed off. The company leased the land to the local school board in 1953. Later in the 1950s, the school board requested that the company sell

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3232-670: The United States , Canada , and Chile . It is incorporated under the Delaware General Corporation Law and headquartered in Houston . The company ranked 183rd on the 2021 Fortune 500 based on its 2020 revenues and 670th on the 2021 Forbes Global 2000 . Occidental Petroleum was founded in Los Angeles, CA in 1920. In 1957, Armand Hammer became the company's president and CEO after acquiring

3333-501: 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

3434-407: 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:

3535-671: 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

3636-532: The Caribbean, with plans to drill the world's deepest offshore oil well by 2024. In Peru, Anadarko Peru, a subsidiary of Oxy, completed the initial phase of a 3D marine seismic acquisition project in northern Peruvian waters in 2024. OxyChem, a wholly-owned subsidiary , manufactures polyvinyl chloride (PVC) resins, chlorine , and sodium hydroxide (caustic soda) used in plastics, pharmaceuticals, and water treatment chemicals. Other products manufactured by

3737-464: The Libyan government, with 19% retained by Occidental Petroleum. In 1986, the company suspended operation in the country due to economic sanctions imposed by the United States. In 2005, Occidental and its partner, Liwa, won 8 out of 15 exploration spots on the EPSA-4 auction, making both companies among the first to enter the Libyan market since the United States lifted its embargo on Libya. The company

3838-589: The Llanos Norte, Middle Magdalena, and Putumayo Basins. Working interest on exploration offshore in Colombia remained under ownership of Oxy in partnership with Ecopetrol , with plans to drill the first well by 2024. In 1981, Occidental acquired IBP, Inc. , one of largest producers of beef and pork products in the United States. In 1988, the company acquired Cain Chemical for $ 2 billion. In 2005,

3939-848: The Shah Field, one of the largest natural gas fields in the Middle East, through a joint venture known as Al Hosn Gas. Al Hosn Gas became operational in 2015. In September 2014, Occidental moved its headquarters to Houston, Texas. In November, the company sold its 50% interest in BridgeTex Pipeline Company, owner of a 300,000 barrel-per-day crude oil pipeline system that extends from Colorado City, Texas to Texas City, Texas , for $ 1.075 billion. In December 2014, Occidental distributed 80.5% of its shares in California Resources Corporation ,

4040-491: The Solimar Beach exit; almost all the other oil wells are out of the line of sight from any public road, as are the other oilfield structures (tank farms, processing units, and others). The predominant vegetation in the hills is chaparral and coastal sage scrub . Terrain on the hills is steep, and the unpaved access roads make numerous switchbacks. Some of the hillsides are bare where landslides have stripped them, and

4141-580: The U.S. government in early 2011 following the Gaddafi regime's attacks on Libyan civilians. In 2016, the company ceased operations in Libya. In 2017, the company was ranked 55th on the Carbon Majors Report, a list of the Top 100 producers and their cumulative greenhouse gas emissions from 1988-2015. The company has stated that its use of enhanced oil recovery for a portion of its production

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4242-606: The Williston Basin, were sold in 2015 for $ 600 million. The company also sold its proven and probable reserves of 393 million barrels of oil equivalent (2.40 × 10  GJ) in Argentina to Sinopec , a subsidiary of China Petrochemical Corporation , and acquired properties in South Texas and North Dakota for $ 3.2 billion. In January 2011, Occidental partnered with Abu Dhabi's state oil company in developing

4343-435: The acquisition, the division reported its first losses since the 1990s. In 2016, Phibro was wound down and sold. In August 2019, Occidental acquired Anadarko Petroleum for $ 57 billion, making the deal the world's fourth biggest oil and gas acquisition to date. In August 2023, Occidental acquired all the outstanding equity of the direct air capture technology company, Carbon Engineering for $ 1.1 billion. In December,

4444-410: 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

4545-449: 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

4646-624: The area. Three employees of AirScan were flying the Skymaster plane from which they provided the Colombian military with the coordinates to drop the bombs. The operation had been planned by the CAF and AirScan at Occidental's complex in Caño Limón. In April 2003, Luis Alberto Galvis Mujica, a witness and survivor of the accident, sued Occidental. The courts ruled that Occidental was not liable for

4747-609: The board in 2015, became the chief executive officer of the company, the first female to serve as chief executive officer of a major U.S. oil and gas company. In January 2018, Occidental was found to be partially responsible for the Bayou Corne sinkhole , along with Texas Brine Company and Vulcan Materials Company . In October 2020, Occidental sold its onshore operations in Colombia to the Carlyle Group for $ 825 million. The deal included operations and working interests in

4848-529: The chemical business with the acquisition of Hooker Chemical Company , following the Love Canal contamination incident. In 1971, Occidental received approval to build an oil refinery in Canvey Island in Essex, England , but construction ceased in 1975 due to the 1970s energy crisis . The site remained derelict; the tanks and the chimney were subsequently demolished. Only some concrete foundations and

4949-559: The company abandoned the project. Repsol took over the project. On December 13, 1998, 17 civilians, including 7 children, were killed when the Colombian Air Force (CAF) dropped a cluster bomb in the hamlet of Santo Domingo, Colombia, after AirScan , Occidental's security contractor, misidentified it as a hostile guerrilla target. Groups such as FARC and the National Liberation Army were active in

5050-591: The company acquired Vintage Petroleum for $ 3.8 billion. In 2008, it acquired a 10% stake in Plains All American Pipeline . The company also acquired assets from Plains Exploration & Production for $ 1.3 billion. In October 2009, Occidental acquired Citigroup 's controversial Phibro energy-trading business, for its net asset value of approximately $ 250 million. The unit was managed by Andrew J. Hall , who received compensation of approximately $ 100 million per year in 2007 and 2008. After

5151-551: The company acquired a Permian producer, CrownRock, for $ 12 billion. The acquisition was completed in August 2024. The company's oil and gas operations are concentrated in two geographic areas: the United States and the Middle East, with some ventures in South America. As of December 31, 2020, Occidental had 2.911  billion barrels of oil equivalent (1.781 × 10  GJ) of oil equivalent net proved reserves, of which 51%

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5252-642: The company ceased exploration activities and production operations in Libya due to the growing civil unrest in the country and U.S. sanctions. In June 2011, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and United Kingdom prosecutors requested information from the company, ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips related to the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA), an investment firm controlled by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi , to determine if there were any violations of international bribery laws. The Libyan Investment Authority's investments were frozen by

5353-539: The company formed a joint venture with Church & Dwight , which makes Arm & Hammer products, for a potassium carbonate plant at Muscle Shoals, Alabama . On July 6, 1988, an explosion and subsequent inferno on the company's Piper Alpha platform in the Scottish North Sea, resulted in 167 fatalities in what remains the world's most deadly offshore disaster. In 1990, Armand Hammer died and Ray R. Irani became chairman and chief executive officer of

5454-418: The company include caustic potash , chlorinated organics , sodium silicates, chlorinated cyanuric acid (isocyanurate), and calcium chloride . OxyChem has manufacturing facilities in the United States, Canada, and Chile. In a joint venture with Church & Dwight , OxyChem owns Armand Products Company, which sells potassium carbonate and potassium bicarbonate . In June 2024, Occidental Petroleum signed

5555-574: The company's appeal. In March 2015, the company made a settlement for an undisclosed amount, with the funds to be used for health, education, and nutrition projects in five Achuar communities in the Corrientes River basin. In 2019, Occidental Petroleum acquired Anadarko Petroleum , inheriting a significant legacy of environmental infractions including the largest environmental contamination settlement in American history, involvement with

5656-691: The company's proved reserves in 2020. The company is the largest independent oil producer in Oman. In Qatar, the company is the second-largest oil producer offshore and is a partial owner in the Dolphin Gas Project , which delivers gas to Oman and the United Arab Emirates. In Colombia, Anadarko Colombia, a subsidiary of Oxy, and Ecopetrol entered into a joint exploration agreement in May 2022 for offshore exploration in deep waters of

5757-547: The company. In 1991, Occidental sold its stake in IBP, Inc. In 1993, the company sold its remaining coal operations. In 2006, the government of Ecuador seized the company's interest in block 15 of the Amazon Rainforest , forcing the company to take a $ 306 million after-tax charge. In 2016, Ecuador agreed to pay $ 980 million in restitution to the company, down from the original award of $ 1.77 billion. The agreement

5858-653: The deepest well was already producing from 14,752 feet (4,496 m). In order to increase reservoir pressure, several waterflooding projects have been undertaken on the field, commencing in 1955. Most of the water injection has been done in the Grubb 1-3 zones; only one waterflood well was active as of 2009 in Grubb 4-5, with 31 in Grubb 1-3. In 1993, Vintage Petroleum acquired both the San Miguelito and adjacent Rincon fields from Mobil , Conoco , and Santa Fe Energy. To improve operational efficiency, Vintage combined

5959-526: The east-west trend of the Transverse Ranges: to the west is the Rincon Oil Field and the offshore Dos Cuadras field , and to the east the much larger Ventura Oil Field . Total productive area of the field, projected to the surface, encompasses about 940 acres (3.8 km), about one and a half square miles. On the coast between Ventura and Carpinteria , the stretch known locally as "the Rincon",

6060-430: 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

6161-402: The fault, but are offset by about 4,000 vertical feet. It is a deep reservoir, with the uppermost producing unit at an average depth of 6,800 feet (2,100 m) below ground surface, and the lowest over 14,000 feet (4,300 m) deep. The California Department of Conservation groups together the Grubb 1-3 zones, Grubb 4-5 zones, Grubb D (Deep) zones as three distinct producing horizons. The oil

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6262-402: 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

6363-684: 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

6464-454: The hills rise steeply from the shore, with the coastal U.S. Highway 101 occupying much of the narrow strip between the beach and the sharply rising hills. A cluster of seaside homes is on the ocean side of Highway 101 at Solimar Beach (marked as "Dulah" on the USGS topographic map of the area). One of the field's pumpjacks is visible on the mountain side of the highway, at sea level, just north of

6565-530: The incident. On May 10, 2007, a group of 25 Achuar Peruvians , a group of Indigenous peoples , filed suit against the company, demanding environmental remediation and reparations for environmental degradation allegedly caused by the company between 1971 and 2000, when it drilled in Block 1-AB in Peru. The plaintiffs claimed that the company violated technical standards and environmental law when it dumped

6666-453: The land, and threatened to use eminent domain . The school board intended to build a school on an unused area of the dump. A school was built on the site, and later a middle-class residential district was built on land adjacent to the site. The construction broke through the 4-foot (1.2 m) clay seal containing the waste. In 1968, Hooker Chemical was purchased by Occidental. In 1978, residents became concerned about unusual health issues in

6767-575: 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

6868-574: The largest producer of oil and natural gas on a gross-operated barrels of oil equivalent basis in California, to Occidental shareholders and distributed its remaining stake to shareholders in March 2016. In June 2017, the company sold land in the Permian Basin for $ 600 million and used the proceeds to acquire other assets in the area. In October 2015, Occidental completed the first phase of

6969-644: The law firm Schonbrun DeSimone Seplow Harris & Hoffman LLP. On March 3, 2010, EarthRights International argued to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit that the case should be litigated in Los Angeles, where the company was headquartered. The court agreed with a trial in the United States, overturning the decision of the lower courts, and, in 2013, the United States Supreme Court refused to hear

7070-434: 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

7171-438: 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

7272-403: 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

7373-419: The north and northwest. Discovered in 1931, and with about 125 million barrels of cumulative production out of its original 520 million, it ranks 44th in the state by size. It is currently operated by CalNRG Operating LLC which acquired ownership of the field in 2021 after the bankruptcy of California Resources Corporation , a former subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum . The oil field is one of several following

7474-438: 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

7575-659: The oil and gas. The company also produced 293 thousand barrels of oil equivalent (1,790,000 GJ) per day in the Denver Basin . The company's oil and gas operations in the Middle East are in Oman , Qatar , and the United Arab Emirates and are via production sharing agreements . The region produced 251 thousand barrels of oil equivalent (1,540,000 GJ) per day, representing approximately 19% of 2020 total production. The region also held 28% of

7676-724: 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

7777-406: 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,

7878-431: 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

7979-429: 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

8080-485: 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

8181-491: 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

8282-525: The region, including high rates of cancer and birth defects . This subsequently became a national news story, and in 1980, president Jimmy Carter declared a federal emergency in the area. Residents were eventually relocated, and the company paid $ 129 million in restitution. On Saturday, October 11, 2008, oleum was accidentally spilled at a facility in Petrolia, Pennsylvania which belonged to Indspec, an affiliate of Occidental Chemical Corporation. Oleum

8383-408: 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

8484-409: 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

8585-625: The river jetty remain extant. In 1973, Occidental negotiated a phosphate-for-natural-gas deal with the Soviet Union, in which the Hammer-controlled firms Occidental Petroleum and Tower International would export to the Soviet Union phosphate , which Occidental mined in northern Florida, in return for the Soviet Union exporting from Odessa and Ventspils through Hammer's firms natural gas that would be converted into ammonia , potash , and urea . The total value of this trade

8686-410: 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

8787-410: 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

8888-454: 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

8989-452: 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

9090-481: The terrain in this area is unusually prone to landslides. Climate in the area is Mediterranean , with cool, rainy winters and mild, dry summers, cooled by morning coastal clouds. Elevations on the field range from sea level to over 1,200 feet (370 m) on the highest ridgetops. Runoff from the oil field is west and southwest down ephemeral, seasonal drainages into the Pacific Ocean. The San Miguelito field

9191-412: The territory of the U'wa people , in northeast Colombia . The locals resisted, concerned about environmental degradation and fears that development would bring strangers and be a target for guerrilla warfare . There also were tribal beliefs that oil is the "blood of the earth" and should not be removed. In 2002, after years of shareholder resolutions , legal battles, protests, and a failed test well,

9292-882: The two adjacent oil fields into a single operating unit. Occidental Petroleum acquired Vintage in 2006, retaining their name and making them a wholly owned subsidiary, and operated the Rincon and San Miguelito fields under the Vintage banner. In 2014, Occidental Petroleum spun off their California assets into California Resources Corporation. Finally, both the San Miguelito oil field and adjacent Rincon oil field were acquired by CalNRG Operating LLC in 2021. These fields, in addition to others, have been remediated and rehabilitated after neglect by previous operators. 34°19′02″N 119°20′50″W  /  34.3171°N 119.3471°W  / 34.3171; -119.3471 Oil field Reservoirs are broadly classified as conventional and unconventional reservoirs. In conventional reservoirs,

9393-407: 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

9494-431: 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

9595-442: 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

9696-525: Was based on a 2012 arbitration award from the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes . In 2007, Occidental's compensation policies came under scrutiny after it was announced that Irani received $ 460 million in compensation in 2006. In May 2011, Irani retired as CEO after CalSTRS and Relational Investors, two major shareholders, objected to the company's compensation policies for top executives. President Stephen I. Chazen

9797-408: Was drilling at the gas field which was later abandoned. The explosion damaged 28 tea gardens in the area. It was estimated to have caused 90 to 140 billion BDT in damages. The government of Bangladesh claimed compensation from Occidental but it left the country handing over the well to Unocal which later sold the interests to Chevron . From 1992 to 2001, the company tried to drill for oil in

9898-478: Was estimated at $ 20 billion. The construction of Soviet port facilities, designed by Hammer's firms, was partially financed by the Export-Import Bank as endorsed by Nixon . In August 1973, Libya nationalized 51% of Occidental's assets in the country. In February 1974, the company announced a 35-year oil exploration agreement with Libya. 81% of the oil extracted by Occidental Petroleum was to go to

9999-629: Was named CEO to replace Irani and in 2013, shareholders ousted Irani as chairman. Despite his outlandish compensation, during Irani's tenure, the company grew from a collection of unrelated businesses to one that focuses on oil and gas and the market capitalization of the company went from $ 5.5 billion to $ 80 billion. In December 2010, Occidental acquired shale oil properties in the Williston Basin in North Dakota for $ 1.4 billion. These assets, as well as other assets acquired by Oxy in

10100-703: Was one of the first companies to research developing oil shale . In 1983, Occidental and Ecopetrol , the Colombian state-owned oil company, discovered the giant Caño Limón oilfield in Arauca . In July 1996, the company sold its interest in 3 oilfields in the Congo to the Congolese government for $ 215 million. The following year, it paid $ 3.65 billion to acquire the Elk Hills Oil Field . In 1986,

10201-498: Was petroleum, 19% was natural gas liquids, and 30% was natural gas. In 2020, the company had production of 1,350 thousand barrels of oil equivalent (8,300,000 GJ) per day. In 2020, the company's United States operations produced 1,037 thousand barrels of oil equivalent (6,340,000 GJ) per day, representing 77% of the company's worldwide production, including 575 thousand barrels of oil equivalent (3,520,000 GJ) per day in Permian Basin , where Occidental

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