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The following article was printed this week in the Daily Coalinga Times, one of the progressive and growing oil dailies of the state. One of the most remarkable things about the Ventura oil territory is that with the exception of a little group of ells closed down on Tar creek, and one or two others which have suffered damage of some nature, every well drilled which struck oil is still produc ing today. There has been drilled in Ventura s county about 550 wells, of which num ber 400 belong to the Union Oil com pany. More than three-fourths of these wells were producers in the be ginning, and still continue to produce In only exceptional cases were any wells exhausted after oil was extract ed therefrom. Oil-bearing sands in Ventura county alternate with strata of shale. Little intrusion with water is encountered in some parts of the county, notably in Bardsdale and some parts of Santa Paula canyon, no water whatever is encountered. Frequently no casing is required. The oil from Ventura county ranges consistently in gravity from 18 to 30 degrees. The value of Ventura oil entitles it to high rank. It sells for $1.00 a barrel and better, whereas the entire output of California averages much less, says the San Francisco Call. In the opinion of experts, Ventura County, including all its several dis ticts has, with the advent of 1910, entered into the banner year of its history as a producer of oil. The past few weeks has been a period of pre paration among the newer companies nd active operations will be started before long. The older companies are enlarging upon their territory and scarcely a week passes without at east one new well being brought in. Pipe line facilities are being rapidly improved to accommodate the in crease in production, and it is said that before the present year passes e very property will have satisfactory pipe line connections. To Ventura county belongs the title of “mother of oil” in the history of petroleum production in California. In this county oil was first produced in paying quantities. It was here that the Union Oil company got its start. for thirty-five years there has been an uninterrupted and undepleted produc tion of oil in Ventura county, and from present indications the produc tion will be doubled this year. To the old-timers the reason in be lieving in the existence of oil in this locality was they did not have to drill to find it. Seepages were so numer ous that many pools were found—and are found today, for that matter. Tunnels Driven For Oil. This oil was tunneled for and al lowed to run out into barrels, later be ing marketed at a small profit. This oil is the best found in California, and even in its crude state makes a splen did lubricant; refined, it contains as high as 60 per cent gasoline. The mountains about contain large quan tities of sulphur and it is the general belief that the sulphur formation un dergoes a refining process. Pools of asphaltum are frequently found in the canyons, some of which spread out for many yards, and in stances are recorded of cattle getting their feet stuck in the substance and dying before relieved. The oil bearing stratum lies in the mountains to the north of the Santa Clara river. It starts near the eastern boundary of the county and runs in a southeasterly direction to the San Buenaventura river. It is also found near the Congo Rancho. The wells are chiefly situated from three to six miles north of the edge of the Santa Clara valley, in canyons, namely, from east to west, as follows: Piru, Hopper, Sespe, Santa Paula, Adams, Saltmarsh, Wheeler, Sulphur and Cowie. On the south side of Sul phur mountain lies the Hardison and Stewart holdings, where early devel opment in the region had its begin ning, Unbroken Ridge. Between the Ojai valley on the north and the Santa Clara valley on the south there extends an unbroken mountain ridge, its peaks towering 2,000 feet above the level of the sea. This is Sulphur mountain. The can yons named lie on the southern flank of it. In 1864-1865 Tom Scott, the then famous railroad king, acquired 196,000 acres of land in this locality. He prospected for oil and drilled several wells, but the production never ex ceeded seven barrels to the well. Lat er developments proved that Scott's wells were on the wrong side of the formation. For twenty years after Scott’s experiment the oil industry there was at a standstill, the vast acreage having been divided into ranches. In 1883 John Irwin was sent from Titusville to prospect the territory. He was followed by Wallace §. Hardison and Lyman Stewart, who financed the outfit and eventually made a success of the oil business in Ventura county. They experienced all t he ups and downs known to the early settlers, but finally won in their ef forts to produce oil commercially. At this time the depths of wells ranged anywhere from a few feet to about two hundred feet. In Tar creek, nineteen miles from Santa Paula northeast, two wells were drilled, one 96 and one 220 feet, which produced $50 barrels a day. The Pacific Coast Oil company, Hardison Stewart and the Los An geles Oil company in 1887 organized the Mission Transfer company, which led refining and shipping to Santa Paula. They did a general business at hhis point until 1895. They owned a steamer that brought supplies into Ventura and a large supply house at Santa Paula, together with boiler works and machine shops. All these were transferred to Los Angeles in 1895. In 1889 the daily output handled was 700 barrels. There were about fifty wells. The Union Oil company was the onsolidation of several interests, among which were those already named. At the present time the Capital Crude Oil company is operating a re finery with a capacity of 150 barrels a day. It produces its own oil. It is making distillate, gasoline, lubricating and illuminating oils and asphaltum. Its oil comes through pipes by gravity from the wells. It is constantly en larging its equipment and increasing its trade, a new still having been added as late as last fall. This territory, aside from the Union's interests, has about twenty- five producing companies, all of which contribute in a greater or less extent to the industry. In the field the Union has pipelines running from Santa Paula to Ventura, with laterals connecting with wells. An emergency station is maintained at Santa Paula. The oil is carried by gravity through the lines, as all pro duction comes from high land. Many of the wells are neglected while still maintaining a steady pro duction. Thousands of acres are awaiting the energy of man to bring them to the point of production. The gravity of the oil is conceded to be the highest in the state, and from every indication there is plausible reason to believe that large quantities of oil are lying in store for future de velopment. The production at the present time is estimated as being more than 26,000 barrels a month.
Newspaper Details
Oxnard Daily Courier
Oxnard, California, US
Sat, Oct 01, 1910
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Stephanie S.
USA 12 Aug 2026
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