Geologic Highlights--Easterly Extension of Wilmington Oil Field: ABSTRACT

Abstract

An offshore seismic survey in 1954 revealed a continuous anticlinal structure extending from the presently developed area of the Wilmington oil field easterly to an undetermined area beyond the Belmont Offshore Field. A number of normal faults transverse to the axis of the anticline were recognized. In 1961, the Long Beach Harbor Department Petroleum Division estimated that an oil reserve of approximately 800 million barrels of oil can be recovered under a water-flood pressure maintenance operation in the undeveloped offshore and townlot area of the City of Long Beach. Recent core hole data from eight wells drilled in 1962 in the offshore area showed possible production from five zones (Ranger, Upper Terminal, Lower Terminal, Union Pacific, and Ford). All the stratigraphi units in the developed portion of the field are present in the undeveloped area with possibly some older sediments overlying the basement rock. Based on the core hole information, the reserve estimate was revised to a range of 1.1-billion to 1.5-billion barrels of oil recoverable under a water-flood pressure maintenance operation. A development program is under consideration to produce the townlot and offshore area under a unit plan with drill sites to be provided from four, 10-acre, manmade islands. End_of_Article - Last_Page 1774------------