Bridge Pool of South Mountain Oil Field: ABSTRACT

Abstract

The Bridge pool is south of Santa Paula, directly across the Santa Clara River from the city. It underlies the northwestern part of the South Mountain oil field and extends 1½ miles southwesterly beyond the productive limits of the old field. A one-mile gap, currently being narrowed, separates the Bridge pool from the Saticoy field. The pool was discovered by Texas-Union in late December, 1955, following the formation of a 560-acre 50/50 land pool, with The Texas Company as operator. The Shell Oil Company is also an operator, in partnership with General Petroleum Corporation. Production is from Pliocene, upper Pico and middle Pico sands, the middle Pico being most prolific. The productive section consists of thick sands, locally conglomeratic, separated by minor clay shales and siltstones. Bridge pool wells penetrate Oligocene Sespe beds and a fault wedge of Miocene shale before reaching the Pliocene beneath the Oakridge fault. Oil is trapped in beds dipping 70° northerly beneath the 69°-80° southerly dipping fault zone. Lateral closure is believed due to bowing against the fault plane, although the east and west limits have not been reached to prove this. Several deep tests in the 11,000-13,500-foot depth range have been disappointing due to tight sands and low pressures. Directional drilling has been extensively used to maintain structural advantage, and to save location costs in a Citrus area. Several wells have been redrilled to get out of a variable thickness End_Page 258------------------------------ zone of shearing, overturning, and impaired permeability found close to the fault plane, or because of re-entering the fault. Forty-one wells are producing from a 300-acre area 2 miles long and averaging 1,200 feet wide. The pool is now producing a daily average of 7,600 barrels of 31° oil. Cumulative production to January 1, 1958, was 3,400,384 barrels. End_of_Article - Last_Page 259------------