OCS Study • MMS 2002-049 Industrial Activity and Its Socioeconomic Impacts: Oil and Three Coastal California Counties Final Technical Summary Final Study Report U.S. Department of the Interior Minerals Management Service Pacific OCS Region 2 Industrial Activity and Its Socioeconomic Impacts: Oil and Three Coastal California Counties Final Technical Summary Final Study Report Authors Russell J. Schmitt Jenifer E. Dugan Principal Investigators and Michael R. Adamson Prepared under MMS Cooperative Agreement No. 14-35-01-00-CA-31063 (Task Order #17610) by Coastal Marine Institute Marine Science Institute University of California Santa Barbara, CA 93106 U.S. Department of the Interior Minerals Management Service Camarillo Pacific OCS Region May 2003 3 Disclaimer This report has been reviewed by the Pacific Outer Continental Shelf Region, Minerals Management Service, U.S. Department of the Interior and approved for publication. The opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations in this report are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Minerals Management Service. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation for use. This report has not been edited for conformity with Minerals Management Service editorial standards. Availability of Report Extra copies of the report may be obtained from: U.S. Dept. of the Interior Minerals Management Service Pacific OCS Region 770 Paseo Camarillo Camarillo, CA 93010 phone: 805-389-7621 A PDF file of this report is available at: http://www.coastalresearchcenter.ucsb.edu/CMI/ Suggested Citation The suggested citation for this report is: Schmitt, R. J., Dugan, J. E., and M. R. Adamson. Industrial Activity and Its Socioeconomic Impacts: Oil and Three Coastal California Counties. MMS OCS Study 2002-049. Coastal Research Center, Marine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, California. MMS Cooperative Agreement Number 14-35-01-00-CA-31603. 244 pages. 4 Table of Contents FINAL TECHNICAL SUMMARY ....................................................................... 1 FINAL STUDY REPORT ...................................................................................... 7 Introduction and Overview .................................................................................... 7 One Hundred Thirty-Five Years of Tri-County Oil Activity............................... 9 The Politics of Offshore Development: The Santa Barbara Channel, 1890-1975...................................................................................... 15 Characterizing San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura Counties Socially, Economically and Culturally Over Time........................................ 18 Charting the Post-World War II Oil Industry in San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties.................................................................................... 29 Plan of the Study ................................................................................................. 35 Part I. The Exuberant Era, 1865-1965 ................................................................. 43 Tri-County Field Development ........................................................................... 43 Tri-County Field Development, 1865-1941 .................................................. 43 Technological Advances, 1900-41................................................................ 54 Tri-County Field Development, 1941-65 ...................................................... 56 Technological Advances, 1941-65................................................................ 63 Industrial Activity: Buying and Leasing Land.................................................... 65 Leasing Rancho Lands................................................................................... 67 Leasing Government Lands........................................................................... 71 Leasing Private Rural Lands.......................................................................... 73 Cooperative and Competitive Leasing: Three Cases.................................... 77 Dealing in Leases........................................................................................... 83 Offshore State Leasing After 1955................................................................ 85 Industrial Activity: Exploration and Production ................................................. 88 Tri-County Exploration and Production, 1865-1941..................................... 94 Tri-County Exploration and Production, 1941-1965..................................... 108 Service and Supply Firms.............................................................................. 123 Industrial Activity: Storage, Transportation, and Refining ................................. 125 “Boom” Towns and Related Urban Developments............................................. 135 Economic Diversification.............................................................................. 142 The Santa Barbara Exception .............................................................................. 145 Conservation, Pollution, and Public Policy......................................................... 152 Part II. The Environmental Era, 1966-1985 ........................................................ 156 Leasing and Developing Federal OCS Lands...................................................... 157 Technological Advances, Offshore California .............................................. 161 Responding to Federal OCS Oil Development ................................................... 164 Tri-County Field Development ........................................................................... 173 Industrial Activity................................................................................................ 176 Urban Development and Economic Diversification............................................ 183 Table of Contents, continued Part III. Decline and Other Recent Developments, 1986-2001 .......................... 186 The Decline of the Tri-County Extrative Region................................................ 187 Industrial Activity and Corporate Strategy: Majors Out, Independents In......... 190 Oil Service and Support Firms...................................................................... 194 A Transformed Structure of Industry ............................................................ 197 Unocal and the Environment: A Special Case of Corporate Delinquency?.. 206 Technological Advances and the Future of the Tri-County Oil Industry............ 210 Technology and the Santa Barbara Channel.................................................. 216 The Future of the Tri-County Extrative Region.................................................. 219 Abbreviations List................................................................................................... 223 Bibliography ............................................................................................................ 223 List of Tables Table 1. Record of Field Operations to December 31, 1903................................. 46 Table 2. Crude Oil Production by District for Selected Years .............................. 51 Table 3. Crude Oil Production by County for Selected Years .............................. 62 Table 4. Firms with at least one percent of California Crude Oil Production, 1940 91 Table 5. Relative Position by Group of Producer by Area, 1940.......................... 93 Table 6. Production of Major Producers by Area, 1940........................................ 94 Table 7. California Crude Oil Production, 1950 ................................................... 110 Table 8. Tri-County Crude Oil Production, 1950.................................................. 111 Table 9. California Crude Oil Production, 1965 ................................................... 121 Table 10. Tri-County Crude Oil Production, 1965.................................................. 122 Table 11. Leading California Crude Oil Producers, 1980....................................... 178 Table 12. Leading Tri-County Oil Producers, 1980................................................ 179 Table 13. Leading Ventura County Property Taxpayers, Fiscal 2000..................... 188 Table 14. Leading California Crude Oil Operators, 2000 ....................................... 198 Table 15. Leading Tri-County Crude Oil Producers, 2000 ..................................... 199 Table 16. Environmental Reserves Set Aside by Unocal, Fiscal 1996-2000.......... 208 ii List of Figures Figure 1. California Crude Oil Production, 1890-1924 .......................................... 44 Figure 2. Coastal California Crude Oil Production, 1876-1924 ............................. 44 Figure 3. Tri-County Prospect Wells Drilled Prior to 1915.................................... 46 Figure 4. Coastal California Crude Oil Production by Group, 1925-1965............. 50 Figure 5. Tri-County Prospect Wells, 1915-1945................................................... 52 Figure 6. Tri-County Prospect Wells, 1945-2000................................................... 57 Figure 7. Tri-County Oil Well Operators, 1950-2000 ............................................ 90 Figure 8. Tri-County Oil Well Operators by Type, 1950-2000 .............................. 112 Figure 9. Large Tri-County Oil Well Operators by Location, 1950-2000 .............. 113 Figure 10. Small Tri-County Oil Well Operators