Oil giants sell thousands of California wells, raising worries about future liability claims
Photo: Michael Robinson, Special to the Chronicle
The giant oil companies that dominate the Western oil business have a long history of using California to produce oil and gas. In the 1930s, they were among the first major gas companies to build drilling rigs in Long Beach — an area that now resembles a theme park for gas companies.
Photo: Michael Robinson, Special to the Chronicle
Now they are among the largest oil companies in Southern California, with their name on the first oil well drilled in San Diego County since the 1800s.
The oil and gas boom that was the backdrop of a dramatic presidential campaign has made it easier for oil and gas companies to make a big push on the West Coast.
Photo: Michael Robinson, Special to the Chronicle
There’s a growing list of reasons why they are here when no one had expected their presence. The first is that in the last 30 years, the price of oil has gone up significantly. That in turn has led to big profits for U.S. oil companies in every major area of the world, from the Persian Gulf on the Gulf of Oman to the Caspian Sea in eastern Russia. The oil companies that dominate the Western oil business have a long history of using California to produce oil and gas. In the 1930s, they were among the first major gas companies to build drilling rigs in Long Beach — an area now resembling a theme park for gas companies.
Now they are among the largest oil companies in Southern California, with their name on the first oil well drilled in San Diego County since the 1800s.
Photo: Michael Robinson, Special to the Chronicle
The other main driver for the West Coast drilling boom is the discovery of shale gas in other parts of Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania and elsewhere in the U.S. When the shale gas was first discovered, it was hailed as a silver lining for Texas and an economic windfall for the region. But within three years the federal government had stopped using it to produce electricity, and there’s little evidence the drilling boom has slowed down.
Photo: Michael Robinson, Special to the Chronicle
That’s because most of the shale gas that was available has never been commercialized. There’s still enough that one of
