212:
Eocene-age sandstone formation under the
Vaqueros Formation. After this gas was exhausted, this reservoir could be used to expand the field's storage capacity. The County produced an Draft Environmental Impact Report, then solicited comments from the public and regulatory agencies, and then compiled those with responses into a Final Environmental Impact Report. In June 2013, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors voted to allow the project to proceed, and drilling of the new wells, and construction of the upgraded facilities began in 2014.
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127:, with warm summers and mild, rainy winters. Rain does not ordinarily occur between April and October in any significant amount. Site drainage is to the Pacific Ocean, either directly down the bluff, or into Atascadero Creek and Goleta Slough. Stormwater from the processing plant and adjacent areas on the blufftop runs through a treatment system before being channeled north into Atascadero Creek.
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51:. Discovered in 1929, and first put into production in 1932, it has been in continuous use ever since, producing approximately 12 billion cubic feet of gas. With production declining, the field was converted into a gas storage reservoir in 1941. As of 2016 it remains one of the four gas storage facilities maintained by
211:
In the early 2000s, recognizing the need to expand the capacity of their system and better level the load between summer and winter gas usage, SoCalGas proposed a project to upgrade the field. Four new gas wells would be drilled into a deeper, previously untapped gas reservoir believed to exist in an
207:
While the petroleum industry had largely lost interest in the field in the late 1930s, the need for natural gas increased during the Second World War. Pacific
Lighting Gas, the predecessor of the SoCalGas, needed a way to balance load between winter and summer use of gas, so began repressurizing the
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and Playa del Rey. It is the oldest storage facility of the four and the third largest, with a maximum capacity of 21.5 billion cubic feet. The storage facilities are necessary to balance load for the over ten million customers of SoCalGas: during summer months, when gas usage is at a minimum, gas
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In 2013 the field had 19 active gas wells and two observation wells. SoCalGas installed four new production wells in 2014-2015 after filing an
Environmental Impact Report and obtaining a Land Use Permit from Santa Barbara County. The new wells pull gas from geologic units deeper than the existing
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Land uses in the vicinity of the gas field are primarily agricultural and recreational, with a major transportation corridor cutting through (California
Highway 217 from UCSB to US Highway 101). In addition, the Goleta Slough and Atascadero Creek include protected wetlands, and important wildlife
108:. The main gas processing facility for the field, and all recent development, are on this blufftop, on a single 147.4-acre parcel owned by SoCalGas, hidden from view by the elevated terrain and a dense grove of trees on the north. From the beach, operations are hidden by the steep coastal bluff.
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near downtown Santa
Barbara. Drillers prospecting for oil or gas drilled an exploratory well into the La Goleta field in 1929, but the well hit a high-pressure gas reservoir around 4,500 feet deep and blew out spectacularly, spewing gas at a rate of 60 million cubic feet of gas per day. The
204:
operator, General
Petroleum Corp. of California, redrilled the well in 1932, bringing it into production. Peak production was in 1934, and the reservoir declined rapidly after that, being exhausted by the late 1930s. Total production through 1937 was 14 billion cubic feet of gas.
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In the current gas field, wells are connected to processing, storage, and transmission facilities by about eight miles (13 km) of pipelines, both above and below ground. The design allows withdrawal of up to 400 million cubic feet of gas per day.
92:. The westernmost part of the field is within the property of the University of California, Santa Barbara; a cluster of gas wells operates just north of the east entrance roundabout. The field extends east from there under the narrow neck of the
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is pumped into the reservoirs; and in the winter when usage is high, gas is withdrawn. The La Goleta field serves the northern portion of SoCalGas's geographic range.
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159:, a sandstone unit found about 4,000 feet below ground surface, familiar from its outcrops on the lower slopes of the Santa Ynez Mountains, right at the line where
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habitats occur throughout the area occupied by the gas field. A mobile home park is adjacent to the field on the north, at the southern end of Ward Drive.
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La Goleta Gas Field, from the west. Goleta Beach County Park is to the right; the processing area is in the left center, next to the trees.
155:, a shale unit which forms an impermeable cap on the gas reservoir below. The main productive zone, directly under the Rincon, is in the
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The 1920s was a period of intense oil exploration in
California, with increasing interest in natural gas as its use came to replace
104:; and finally to a blufftop at the western end of the range of low hills that extends along the shore eastward through More Mesa to
288:"Final Environmental Impact Report, Southern California Gas Company La Goleta Storage Field Enhancement Project ("La Goleta EIR")"
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167:, which was found to contain pockets of gas, none of commercially producible quantity in the early history of the field, or the "
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238:. Department of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources, California Department of Conservation (DOGGR 2010). 2010. p. 93
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447:. San Francisco: State of California Dept. of Natural Resources Division of Mines, Bulletin 118. pp. 384–385.
379:. California Department of Conservation, Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR). 1999. p. 213
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La Goleta Gas Field, in
Geologic Formations and economic development of the Oil and Gas Fields of California
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The La Goleta Gas Field in Santa
Barbara County, California. Other oil and gas fields are shown in gray.
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structure cut and bounded on the north by the More Ranch Fault. The geologic unit on the surface is the
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La Goleta Gas Field with natural gas, converting it into storage, and building a compressor station.
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480:. Santa Barbara, California: Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. pp. 116–117.
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Detail of La Goleta Gas Field and surrounding area, showing location of active wells.
175:. This is the unit being targeted by drilling in the 2014 field enhancement project.
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Geologic formations and economic development of the oil and gas fields of
California
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replaces grassland. Below the Vaqueros is either the red sandstone and conglomerate
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several miles west of the site was discovered and developed, as well as the small
318:. Santa Barbara County Planning and Development, Energy Division. October 9, 2014
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374:"California Oil and Gas Fields, Volumes I (1998), II (1992) and III (1982)"
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Santa Barbara County Planning & Development Department (May 2013).
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Natural gas field in Santa Barbara County, California, United States
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storage reservoir, which is about 4,000 feet below ground surface.
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406:. State of California Division of Mines ("Swayze"). p. 385
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The geology and landscape of Santa Barbara County, California
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La Goleta Gas Field Structure Map and Geologic Cross Section
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Public Utilities Commission of California (November 2014).
267:. Southern California Gas Company ("Baker"). p. PEB-2
316:"Southern California Gas Storage Enhancement Project"
233:"2009 Report of the state oil & gas supervisor"
593:Geography of Santa Barbara County, California
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96:where it drains to the Pacific Ocean; under
115:August 2017 Gas drilling at Mescalitan Isl.
88:The field is on the coast near the city of
503:"La Goleta Gas Storage Questions Answered"
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293:. County of Santa Barbara. p. 4.12–8
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583:Natural gas fields in the United States
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171:-age" unit, as it is known in the 2013
262:"Direct testimony of Phillip E. Baker"
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45:Santa Barbara County, California
345:La Goleta EIR, 3-7, 4.4-2,4.4-3
151:. Beneath the Monterey is the
53:Southern California Gas Company
501:Matt Kettmann (May 23, 2013).
195:. During this time, the large
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354:La Goleta EIR, 4.3-1, 4.16-2
173:Environmental Impact Report
143:The gas field is within an
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476:Norris, Robert M. (2003).
336:La Goleta EIR, p. 3-6, 3-7
55:(SoCalGas), a division of
47:, adjacent to the city of
507:Santa Barbara Independent
102:Goleta Beach County Park
59:, with the others being
588:Petroleum in California
526:La Goleta EIR, 1-6, 1-7
123:Climate in the area is
37:La Goleta Storage Field
433:La Goleta EIR, 3-3,3-4
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179:History and operations
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443:Swayze, R.O. (1943).
400:"La Goleta Gas Field"
398:Swayze, R.O. (1943).
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559:34.4218°N 119.8186°W
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31:(also known as the
29:La Goleta Gas Field
564:34.4218; -119.8186
363:La Goleta EIR, 3-4
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157:Vaqueros Formation
149:Monterey Formation
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76:Geographic setting
43:in unincorporated
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197:Ellwood Oil Field
98:Mescalitan Island
41:natural gas field
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65:Honor Rancho
61:Aliso Canyon
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562: /
550:119°49′07″W
424:Swayze, 385
410:January 12,
297:January 10,
577:Categories
547:34°25′18″N
512:January 8,
457:DOGGR, 213
383:January 8,
322:January 8,
271:January 9,
242:January 8,
220:References
145:anticlinal
106:Hope Ranch
161:chaparral
131:Geology
39:) is a
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169:Eocene
90:Goleta
49:Goleta
377:(PDF)
291:(PDF)
265:(PDF)
236:(PDF)
514:2016
482:ISBN
412:2016
385:2016
324:2016
299:2016
273:2016
244:2016
35:and
27:The
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
