411:$ 1,500 to drill an oil well, could potentially become rich – especially if they could get their well into production before their neighbors drained the oil reservoir. Within a year of the Doheny well there were 121 wells on the field interspersed with homes and businesses, and the field's cumulative production had reached 100,000 barrels (16,000 m). Well crowding was extreme: the town lots were often only 50' by 150', and sometimes contained as many as four wells. By the end of 1895, the field was producing 2,000 barrels (320 m) of oil a day, had produced 750,000 barrels (119,000 m) in the preceding year, and accounted for sixty percent of the state's oil production. But it was still expanding: in 1896 a new well found oil east of the fault zone near Sisters Hospital which had previously been considered to be the eastern boundary of the field. By the end of 1897, 270 wells had been drilled into this new area. Cumulative production from the entire field at the end of that year had passed a million barrels, from 551 wells.
428:, soon nicknamed the "Oil Queen of California." She purchased a half-interest in an oil well for $ 700 in the area of the present-day Civic Center, using the proceeds from her piano lessons, and then purchased some others on credit. As her wells became successful, she shrewdly acquired others, forcing other operators out of business, and selling her oil to various local power companies, hotels, and utilities, all while doing her own accounting and continuing to give piano lessons at night. When the price of oil peaked around $ 1.80 a barrel, she controlled about half of the wells on the central portion of the field. In 1903 the boom briefly turned to bust as the price of oil dropped to only fifteen cents a barrel, due to abundant oil flooding the market from the Los Angeles field and others just opening up both in the Los Angeles basin and in the San Joaquin Valley.
487:, "the nation's most expensive high school" began in 1988 adjacent to, and partially above, the former oil field, and within a methane zone. Soil tests in the early 1990s showed methane at high levels, possibly migrating up from old wellbores (not all of which were mapped, let alone abandoned to modern standards). Construction of the complex continued intermittently, with partial demolition and reconstruction after additional contamination and an earthquake fault were found. The Learning Center eventually was completed at a cost of $ 377 million, not far from the area that was the field's center of operations 100 years before.
472:, construction over Los Angeles's old oil fields became much more controversial and difficult. The city defined "methane zones" around all oil fields within its limits, and then enacted ordinances to ensure that new and existing structures within these zones were sufficiently ventilated to prevent the accumulation of explosive levels of methane. Mitigation systems for modern buildings include subsurface barriers, ventilation systems, methane detectors, and alarms. Thousands of buildings in the Los Angeles area have such systems, including the
407:
discovering the field. However, it was Edward Doheny and Cannon's well, begun on
November 4, 1892, that brought the field instant fame. They had dug a well to 155 feet (47 m), halting because of the accumulation of toxic hydrogen sulfide gas in the hole; however the oil seeps they encountered encouraged them to continue. Doheny brought in a sharpened eucalyptus log and used it as an improvised percussion hammer to deepen the well, and shortly afterwards they punctured an oil reservoir, and began producing about seven barrels a day.
313:
377:
352:. Three separate producing horizons, or vertical zones, are present in the Puente Formation, and are given ordinal numbers: First, Second, and Third zones. In addition to these zones, small pockets of oil have been found throughout the upper part of the Puente. The average depth of the three zones from top to bottom is 900, 1,100, and 1,500 feet. Although wells have been drilled to much greater depths – for example, Seaboard Oil Company of Delaware drilled over 7,500 feet (2,300 m) into the
385:
222:
42:
200:'s successful well in 1892, the field was once the top producing oil field in California, accounting for more than half of the state's oil in 1895. In its peak year of 1901, approximately 200 separate oil companies were active on the field, which is now entirely built over by dense residential and commercial development. As of 2011 only one oil well remains active – behind a fence on South Mountain View Avenue one block east of
436:, an eastern businessman who had come to Los Angeles to make a fortune in the oil industry, was also one of the principal operators in the first decade of the 20th century. Production declined quickly after the peak; there were simply too many wells draining a reservoir of limited capacity and pressure, and less and less oil was able to be profitably extracted. After 1915 only two new wells were drilled on the field.
410:
While hardly a gusher, their first well at the corner of Colton and Patton
Streets was in the middle of an area of hundreds of small town lots that had been sold in a land boom of 1887. Since there were no regulations in California on well spacing at this time, anyone with a lot, and the $ 1,000 to
447:
As the boom years of the field occurred before the formation of regulatory agencies in
California, record keeping was sometimes sparse, not only for oil production but for the very existence and location of the wells. R.E. Crowder, writing in 1961, counted 142 wells which likely existed, but could
367:
Oil in the field is generally heavy, with API gravity averaging about 14, and ranging overall from 12 to 20. An early assessment by Paul
Prutzman (1913) rated the quality of the oil from the field as low, due to the high sulfur content and absence of light fractions suitable for refining. The main
256:
Terrain in the vicinity of the Los
Angeles City field includes gently rolling hills cut by ravines draining south. Elevations range from around 250 to 500 feet (150 m) above sea level, with the highest elevations in Elysian Park near Dodger Stadium. Urban development is dense in the part of
208:
neighborhood, producing about 3.5 barrels per day (0.56 m/d). The fortunes made during development of the field led directly to the discovery and exploitation of other fields in the Los
Angeles Basin. Of the 1,250 wells once drilled on the field, and the forest of derricks that once covered
406:
gas from the oil deposits, which were not far below. More persistent drilling in 1890 by several groups of prospectors, including
Maltman and Ruhland, succeeded in establishing production of several barrels of oil a day, and the California Department of Conservation credits these drillers with
451:
By 1961 most of the oil field was dedicated to redevelopment as a residential area, under the auspices of the Los
Angeles Urban Renewal Association. At this time, 93 wells still remained active in the field, run by 22 separate companies. One by one the wells have been abandoned, with the one
431:
The peak year for the field was 1901, during which 1,150 active wells pumped over 1.8 million barrels (290,000 m). Over 200 separate companies were in operation on the field at this time. Of these, the largest were Union
Consolidated Crude Oil Company, L.A. Terminal & Transport, and
401:
The earliest known well on the field, called the "Dryden Well", was a relatively shallow hole hand-dug near the intersection of 3rd Street and
Coronado Street in 1857. It produced some heavy oil, tar, and asphaltum during the next 30 years, but the amounts were not recorded. The growing town
363:
The field is split into three geographic zones, unrelated to the three vertical zones. The Western Area contains seeps that were known prehistorically; it is separated from the Central zone by a fault. The Central Area, the first to be exploited, extends from the fault to approximately the
347:
which trends generally east to west, with oil accumulations trapped in sand units dipping south, ending to the north either at a fault – in the eastern part of the field – or at the surface as tar seeps, in the western area. Mechanisms of entrapment include pinchouts and local changes of
397:
Tar seeps have been known in the area from prehistoric times, and the Native American population of the Los Angeles basin used the tar for waterproofing and other purposes. The Spanish settlers used it for their lamps, as a sealant for roofs, and as grease for wagon wheels.
439:
The early years on the field were not without mishap. In 1907, one of the gigantic redwood oil tanks near Echo Lake ruptured, and crude oil flooded downhill into the lake, catching fire and burning on the water for three days. The lake is now part of Echo Park, within the
929:. Vol. I (1998), Vol. II (1992), Vol. III (1982). California Department of Conservation, Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR). 1,472 pp. Los Angeles City Oil Field information pp. 258–259. PDF file available on CD from www.consrv.ca.gov.
402:
purchased the product from the well owner to oil the streets. Another early well, this one a failure, was dug to almost 400 feet (120 m) in 1865 near the intersection of Temple and Boylston, but the attempt was abandoned after encountering
419:
During the early development of the field, no single firm had a dominant share. Drillers started their own companies, flooding the local stock exchange with shares of start-up oil firms. There were so many of these that the
269:– the first freeway in the United States – cuts directly through the eastern part of the field immediately south of Dodger Stadium. The neighborhoods that contain the field include, from west to east,
964:
Soper, E.K. Los Angeles City Oil Field: Geologic Formations and Economic Development of California: State Division of Mines Bulletin 118, 1943. p 280. Available (with OCR scanning errors)
448:
not be located; some may have been dry holes. A more recent survey suggested that up to 300 wells may have been drilled within the vicinity of the oil field but abandoned without a trace.
1024:
368:
use for oil taken from the field during the first decades of the 20th century was fuel oil, and it was also sprayed onto the young city's dirt roads to settle the dust.
257:
Los Angeles containing the field's former productive area, with numerous apartment blocks mixed with commercial and light industrial structures. U.S. Highway 101, the
424:
had to open a separate facility just to deal with oil stocks. By far the most successful entrepreneur on the field, however, was a piano teacher from Kentucky named
348:
permeability – forms of stratigraphic traps – and structural traps such as oil-bearing units blockaded by unrelated, impermeable units put there by motion along
1063:
444:. Lawlessness was a problem during the boom period as well, with oil thieves draining tanks overnight, stealing tools, and sabotaging wells of competitors.
971:
503:
193:, encompassing an area of about four miles (6 km) long by a quarter-mile across. Its former productive area amounts to 780 acres (3.2 km).
324:
Oil in the Los Angeles City field is relatively close to the surface. Every productive deposit has been in a single geologic unit, the shallow
297:
830:
1078:
292:
Some significant public facilities built directly on the area of former oilfield operations include Shriners Hospital for Children,
293:
982:
570:
514:
241:, the first to be worked in the region. Even larger fields are still productive in other parts of the basin, such as the giant
965:
1073:
1083:
364:
intersection of the Hollywood and Pasadena Freeways, and the Eastern Area extends northeast from that intersection.
1098:
484:
301:
225:
Detail of the Los Angeles City Field, showing locations of former wells, and single active well remaining in 2011.
1088:
1068:
75:
477:
465:
876:
908:
700:
557:
229:
The Los Angeles City field is one of many in the Los Angeles Basin. To the west are the still-productive
946:
421:
262:
1093:
286:
793:"Tracking Tar: Beneath Hollywood's fakery, the very real geology of Los Angeles bubbles and hisses"
353:
837:
234:
20:
932:
California Department of Conservation, Oil and Gas Statistics, Annual Report, December 31, 2008.
468:
in 1985, caused by an overnight accumulation of methane which had seeped up from the underlying
441:
282:
278:
270:
250:
792:
756:
274:
238:
205:
237:
fields; to the south is the Los Angeles Downtown Oil Field. Ten miles east-southeast is the
242:
182:
8:
881:
469:
461:
266:
230:
24:
433:
246:
546:
Los Angeles City Oil Field: California Division of Oil and Gas, Summary of Operations
1002:
743:
574:
258:
47:
312:
403:
329:
201:
376:
332:. Covering the Puente Formation throughout most of the area is a thin layer of
473:
349:
190:
186:
1057:
1039:
1026:
1007:
Petroleum Age, Vol 5 No. 4, American Oil & Gas Historical Society (AOGHS)
452:
remaining well quietly pumping behind a fence on South Mountain View Avenue.
360:
age – no commercial quantities of oil have been found at these great depths.
197:
981:. California Department of Conservation ("DOGGR 2009"). 2009. Archived from
513:. California Department of Conservation ("DOGGR 2009"). 2009. Archived from
940:. Sacramento, California: California State Mining Bureau. pp. 195–215.
425:
317:
210:
384:
337:
221:
414:
344:
178:
41:
388:
The field in 1905, near the corner of First and Belmont, facing east
333:
50:
of southern California. Other oil fields are shown in light gray.
357:
325:
877:"Broke—and Building the Most Expensive School in U.S. History"
483:
Construction of the Belmont Learning Center, now known as the
734:
King, Byron (April 4, 2007). "The Los Angeles Oil Patch".
185:. Long and narrow, it extends from immediately south of
371:
927:
California Oil and Gas Fields, Volumes I, II and III
909:"L.A.'s Other Oil Fields With Schools Built on Them"
972:"2008 Report of the state oil & gas supervisor"
504:"2008 Report of the state oil & gas supervisor"
944:
945:Ramos, George; Stephen Braun (February 8, 1989).
1055:
511:Department of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources
455:
261:, parallels part of the field to the north, and
979:Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources
947:"Major Methane Gas Leak Closes Shopping Strip"
701:"The Gush of Oil was Music to 'Queen's' Ears"
1064:Oil fields in Los Angeles County, California
680:
678:
676:
674:
694:
692:
690:
644:
637:
635:
607:
605:
603:
601:
40:
698:
671:
540:
538:
536:
415:The "Oil Queen of California"; peak years
213:west, little above-ground trace remains.
935:
786:
784:
687:
632:
383:
375:
311:
220:
209:the low hills north of Los Angeles from
598:
196:Discovered in 1890, and made famous by
1056:
907:Bonner, Robert C. (October 31, 1999).
906:
874:
533:
496:
46:The Los Angeles City Oil Field in the
1000:
875:Finley, Allysia (September 4, 2010).
781:
733:
699:Rasmussen, Cecilia (July 11, 1999).
392:
343:Structurally the field is a faulted
340:-age alluvium and terrace deposits.
143:3.5 barrels per day (~170 t/a)
16:Oil field in Los Angeles, California
868:
790:
460:After an explosion which leveled a
372:History, production, and operations
13:
1079:Environment of Greater Los Angeles
14:
1110:
791:Fox, William L. (February 2007).
148:Year of current production of oil
938:Petroleum in Southern California
485:Edward R. Roybal Learning Center
302:Edward R. Roybal Learning Center
855:
823:
810:
772:
763:
727:
718:
662:
653:
623:
614:
589:
563:
551:
76:Los Angeles County, California
1:
1003:"The Oil Queen of California"
1001:Wells, Kris (December 2008).
899:
571:"DOGGR Online mapping system"
548:. 1961. Vol. 47 No. 1, p. 70
478:Los Angeles Convention Center
456:Recent land use controversies
442:neighborhood of the same name
159:0 million barrels (~0 t)
7:
316:Los Angeles City Oil Field
10:
1115:
936:Prutzman, Paul W. (1913).
422:Los Angeles Stock Exchange
307:
294:St. Vincent Medical Center
263:California State Route 110
216:
175:Los Angeles City Oil Field
35:Los Angeles City Oil Field
18:
1074:Elysian Park, Los Angeles
163:
155:
147:
140:Current production of oil
139:
134:
126:
118:
110:
102:
97:
89:
81:
71:
63:
55:
39:
34:
1084:Geography of Los Angeles
490:
19:Not to be confused with
1099:Petroleum in California
432:Westlake Oil Company.
21:Beverly Hills Oil Field
1089:History of Los Angeles
1069:Echo Park, Los Angeles
389:
381:
321:
226:
156:Estimated oil in place
736:Whiskey and Gunpowder
577:on September 24, 2011
387:
379:
315:
245:which stretches from
224:
1040:34.0659°N 118.2677°W
560:: Los Angeles Times
183:Downtown Los Angeles
164:Producing formations
111:Start of development
1036: /
882:Wall Street Journal
558:Mapping Los Angeles
470:Salt Lake Oil Field
462:Ross Dress for Less
298:Belmont High School
267:Arroyo Seco Parkway
119:Start of production
25:Salt Lake Oil Field
1045:34.0659; -118.2677
831:"Ordinance 175790"
434:Edward A. Clampitt
390:
382:
322:
227:
951:Los Angeles Times
913:Los Angeles Times
863:Los Angeles Times
843:on March 26, 2012
818:Los Angeles Times
751:Missing or empty
705:Los Angeles Times
393:Early development
380:The field in 1895
354:Topanga Formation
320:and cross section
259:Hollywood Freeway
239:Brea-Olinda field
171:
170:
67:Los Angeles Basin
48:Los Angeles Basin
1106:
1094:Urban oil fields
1051:
1050:
1048:
1047:
1046:
1041:
1037:
1034:
1033:
1032:
1029:
1017:
1015:
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997:
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987:
976:
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957:
941:
923:
921:
919:
894:
893:
891:
889:
872:
866:
859:
853:
852:
850:
848:
842:
836:. Archived from
835:
827:
821:
814:
808:
807:
805:
803:
788:
779:
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770:
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761:
760:
754:
749:
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739:
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642:
639:
630:
627:
621:
618:
612:
609:
596:
593:
587:
586:
584:
582:
573:. Archived from
567:
561:
555:
549:
542:
531:
529:
527:
525:
519:
508:
500:
466:Fairfax District
404:hydrogen sulfide
330:Puente Formation
243:Wilmington field
167:Puente (Miocene)
82:Offshore/onshore
44:
32:
31:
1114:
1113:
1109:
1108:
1107:
1105:
1104:
1103:
1054:
1053:
1044:
1042:
1038:
1035:
1030:
1027:
1025:
1023:
1022:
1020:
1011:
1009:
991:
989:
988:on May 25, 2017
985:
974:
970:
955:
953:
917:
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902:
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887:
885:
873:
869:
860:
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824:
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799:
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782:
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768:
764:
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750:
741:
740:
732:
728:
723:
719:
709:
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688:
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672:
667:
663:
658:
654:
649:
645:
640:
633:
628:
624:
619:
615:
610:
599:
594:
590:
580:
578:
569:
568:
564:
556:
552:
544:Crowder, R.E.
543:
534:
523:
521:
520:on May 25, 2017
517:
506:
502:
501:
497:
493:
458:
417:
395:
374:
310:
265:, the historic
219:
202:Alvarado Street
51:
28:
17:
12:
11:
5:
1112:
1102:
1101:
1096:
1091:
1086:
1081:
1076:
1071:
1066:
1019:
1018:
998:
968:
962:
942:
933:
930:
924:
903:
901:
898:
896:
895:
867:
854:
822:
809:
797:Orion Magazine
780:
771:
769:Crowder, 69–70
762:
726:
724:Crowder, 69–70
717:
686:
670:
661:
659:Crowder, 68–69
652:
643:
631:
622:
613:
597:
595:DOGGR, 258–259
588:
562:
550:
532:
494:
492:
489:
474:Staples Center
457:
454:
416:
413:
394:
391:
373:
370:
309:
306:
218:
215:
191:Vermont Avenue
187:Dodger Stadium
169:
168:
165:
161:
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157:
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152:
149:
145:
144:
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137:
136:
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124:
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69:
68:
65:
61:
60:
57:
53:
52:
45:
37:
36:
15:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
1111:
1100:
1097:
1095:
1092:
1090:
1087:
1085:
1082:
1080:
1077:
1075:
1072:
1070:
1067:
1065:
1062:
1061:
1059:
1052:
1049:
1008:
1004:
999:
984:
980:
973:
969:
967:
963:
956:September 17,
952:
948:
943:
939:
934:
931:
928:
925:
914:
910:
905:
904:
884:
883:
878:
871:
864:
858:
847:September 18,
839:
832:
826:
819:
813:
798:
794:
787:
785:
775:
766:
758:
745:
737:
730:
721:
706:
702:
695:
693:
691:
681:
679:
677:
675:
665:
656:
650:Prutzman, 201
647:
638:
636:
629:Prutzman, 206
626:
617:
608:
606:
604:
602:
592:
581:September 18,
576:
572:
566:
559:
554:
547:
541:
539:
537:
516:
512:
505:
499:
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284:
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268:
264:
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254:
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248:
244:
240:
236:
235:Beverly Hills
232:
223:
214:
212:
207:
203:
199:
198:Edward Doheny
194:
192:
188:
184:
180:
176:
166:
162:
158:
154:
150:
146:
142:
138:
133:
129:
125:
121:
117:
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109:
105:
101:
98:Field history
96:
92:
88:
84:
80:
77:
74:
70:
66:
62:
59:United States
58:
54:
49:
43:
38:
33:
30:
26:
22:
1021:
1010:. Retrieved
1006:
990:. Retrieved
983:the original
978:
954:. Retrieved
950:
937:
926:
916:. Retrieved
912:
888:September 4,
886:. Retrieved
880:
870:
862:
857:
845:. Retrieved
838:the original
825:
817:
812:
800:. Retrieved
796:
774:
765:
735:
729:
720:
708:. Retrieved
704:
664:
655:
646:
625:
616:
591:
579:. Retrieved
575:the original
565:
553:
545:
522:. Retrieved
515:the original
510:
498:
482:
459:
450:
446:
438:
430:
426:Emma Summers
418:
409:
400:
396:
366:
362:
342:
323:
318:Geologic map
291:
287:Elysian Park
255:
228:
211:Elysian Park
195:
174:
172:
29:
1043: /
1031:118°16′04″W
778:Crowder, 75
684:Crowder, 69
668:Crowder, 77
641:Crowder, 68
338:Pleistocene
177:is a large
106:prehistoric
93:Numerous ()
1058:Categories
1028:34°03′57″N
1012:August 15,
900:References
753:|url=
710:August 15,
620:DOGGR, 258
611:DOGGR, 259
300:, and the
251:Long Beach
135:Production
918:August 9,
802:August 9,
345:anticline
283:Chinatown
279:Echo Park
271:Koreatown
231:Salt Lake
181:north of
179:oil field
127:Peak year
103:Discovery
90:Operators
992:July 24,
861:Bonner,
744:cite web
524:July 24,
334:Pliocene
275:Westlake
206:Westlake
189:west to
72:Location
816:Ramos,
464:in the
358:Miocene
326:Miocene
308:Geology
217:Setting
204:in the
85:onshore
56:Country
865:, 1999
820:, 1989
530:p. 94.
350:faults
336:- and
285:, and
247:Carson
64:Region
986:(PDF)
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