Oil and Gas Developments in West Coast Area in 1981

Abstract

The total exploratory footage and number of wells drilled in the onshore area of California during 1981 increased approximately 10% and 20%, respectively, over the 1980 figures. Both the average footage drilled per well (5,579 ft) and the percentage of success (32.7%) showed declines from 1980. Eight wildcats established new fields in 1981. Two of the wildcats discovered new oil fields and 6 found new gas fields. An additional gas find has been treated as a discovery because of its stratigraphic significance. Onshore development drilling included 2,078 wells; 97% of these were completed as successful producers, the same percentage as in 1980. For the California offshore, just 5 exploratory well completions were reported to the Committee on Statistics of Drilling in 1981; only 2 were successful. Texaco announced its Pitas Point gas field extension in May, and Chevron announced a new oil field discovery, the Point Arguello, in October. There were 118 development wells drilled, of which 99 (83.9%) were successful. Development footage and number of wells were up, but the percentage of success declined from 90% in 1980. California's oil production reached an all-time high of 384.8 million bbl in 1981. The state's previous record, set in 1968, was 375.4 million bbl. Geothermal activity in California centered on development of the proven Imperial Valley and Geysers areas and the discovery of the Coso area in Inyo County. Activity in Oregon included evaluation of the Mount Hood and Newberry Volcano areas. Oil and gas exploratory drilling in Oregon during 1981 led to the discovery of a new gas field by American Quasar in Linn County and to the establishment of a new gas pool by Reichhold Energy at the Mist field in Columbia County. The major portion of Washington's exploratory drilling in 1981 was carried out by Shell in Kittitas County in the south-central part of the state. At last report, the hydrocarbon accumulations found had been deemed noncommercial.