Oilsands Review - September 2006

Arvin
Bakersfield
Bear Valley Spring
Bodfish

Tehachapi

Maricopa McFarland

Ridgecrest

Wasco

California City

Delano

Shafter

Taft

Kern County is the most prolific heavy oil producing area in the United States.

Kern County’s centre of
production is Bakersfield,
160 kilometres north of
Los Angeles.

the International Centre for Heavy Hydrocarbons (ICHH) in Tulsa, Oklahoma. ICHH is the successor organization to the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) Centre for Heavy Crude and Tar Sands.

“The oilsands in Alberta, with 1.8 trillion barrels in place, are orders of magnitude larger than the U.S. heavy oil [resource],” Olsen explains.

The earliest production in California was around seeps over shallow reservoirs, according to the U.S. Petroleum Technology Transfer Council (PTTC). Wells were drilled to increase production, but it was slow going until steam was introduced in the 1960s to reduce viscosity. Using both cyclic steam processes and steam floods, producers reached a peak of 250 million barrels over the year 1985. As much as 69 per cent of the original oil is believed still to

be in place. Like in the Athabasca oilsands of Alberta, environmental issues are front and centre, but Olsen says the concerns are somewhat different.

“Air pollution control limits in southern California are more strict than in Fort McMurray,” he explains, adding that can be a deterrent to the viability of the area. “Just getting air quality permits and buying offsets, you would think a second time about investing your money there. There are not many major companies left in California. In the U.S., 70 per cent of production is by independents, with the exception of Alaska and the Gulf Coast. The rest have moved out to more lucrative targets, including the oilsands, which will be long-term [installations], quite stable over a 40- year life.”