Russell Ranch Oil Field
Encyclopedia
The Russell Ranch Oil Field is an oil and gas field in the Cuyama Valley
of northern Santa Barbara
and southern San Luis Obispo
Counties, California, in the United States. Discovered in 1948, and reaching peak production in 1950, it has produced over 68 Moilbbl of oil in its lifetime; with only an estimated 216000 barrels (34,341.3 m³) of recoverable oil remaining, and having produced around 66,000 in 2008, it is considered to be close to exhaustion. The primary operator on the field as of 2010 is E&B Natural Resources, which also runs the nearby South Cuyama Oil Field
. p. 100, 126
. The Russell Ranch field is about seven miles (11 km) west-northwest of the town of New Cuyama
. The total productive area is about 1540 acres (6.2 km²), and the field is about five miles (8 km) long by one-half mile across, with the long axis trending approximately northwest to southeast, beginning at Whiterock Bluff in the Caliente Range
, crossing under the Cuyama River
, and ending in the foothills of the Sierra Madre Mountains
. The Cuyama River, and California State Route 166 which parallels the river, cut through the center of the field; travelers on Route 166 have a brief view of oil storage tanks and several pumpjacks, but most of the oilfield operations are out of sight from the public right-of-way.
Elevations on the field range from around 1750 feet (533.4 m) where the river cuts across the field, to around 2200 feet (670.6 m) at the southern end in the hills. Terrain consists of an alluvial plain around the river, and grass- and brush-covered hills, cut by numerous gullies and badlands, at both ends of the field in the lower portion of the Caliente and Sierra Madre mountains. Climate is Mediterranean
, but modified by the distance from the coast; winters are colder, with occasional freezes, and summertime temperatures sometimes top 100 °F (37.8 °C). Drainage is to the Cuyama River, which flows out to the ocean at Guadalupe
. In the vicinity of the oil field, the predominant land use, aside from activities associated with oil production and storage, is cattle grazing. The bottomlands of the Cuyama Valley, adjacent to the field on the east-southeast, are primarily agricultural.
formation with an obvious surface expression – indeed the geologic formation containing oil is quite invisible from the ground surface, being covered with alluvium and masked by the mountain ranges running almost perpendicular to the oil field. The oil is in a large homocline
, including porous sedimentary
units dipping northeast and essentially planar, which terminate at the Russell Fault, a normal fault with an approximately 1000 feet (304.8 m) vertical offset which has barricaded upwards movement of hydrocarbon
s against impermeable rock of Pliocene
age. The oil-bearing rocks in the homocline – the Santa Margarita and Vaqueros Formations, of late and early Miocene
age respectively – are sandstones with a porosity of between 23 and 32 percent.
The oil field has four separate pools or producing horizons within its main area, and one small pool in another area about one-half mile southeast of the main part of the field. The four pools in the main area, all discovered in 1948 and 1949, are the Santa Margarita, in the formation of the same name, of late Miocene age; and the Dibblee, Griggs-Dibblee, and Colgrove, all in the Vaqueros Formation of early Miocene age. The pool in the Southeast Area is also in the Dibblee Sand of the Vaqueros Formation. Depths of the pools range from 2500 feet (762 m) below ground surface in the Santa Margarita to 3,600 in the Dibblee Sand in the Southeast area, and oil is of medium grade, with API gravity
ranging from 25 to 40. Sulfur content is generally low, with values from 0.26 to 0.46 percent in each of the pools.
(now BP
), put in the well which found the most productive area of the field, drilling to a depth of 4218 feet (1,285.6 m) into the Dibblee Sand (named for Thomas Dibblee
, the geologist who led Richfield to explore for oil in the Cuyama Valley). This well produced over 350 oilbbl/d, and many more wells followed; each of the producing horizons had been discovered before 1950, and by July 1, 1950, there were 142 producing wells on the field. The success of the Russell Ranch field development led quickly to the discovery of the South Cuyama field
about seven miles (11 km) to the southeast, in 1949; this field proved to be have over three times the oil of the Russell Ranch field, and remains the largest in the Cuyama Valley.
The field reached its peak production in 1950, when 7.9 Moilbbl of oil were withdrawn from the reservoir. Inevitably, production declined, and field operators employed several enhanced recovery technologies to increase reservoir pressure and keep the wells flowing. Waterflooding was begun in 1953, and air injection in 1971. A cyclic steam
program ran from 1966 to 1968 but failed to produce any significant benefit.
The field changed hands several times, with West America Resources and J.P. Oil among the owners prior to the purchase by E&B Natural Resources from J.P. Oil in 2003. E&B, the current operator, reported pumping 66621 barrels (10,591.9 m³) of oil in 2008; its wells were averaging only 4.1 oilbbl/d, a figure typical of a field near the end of its useful life. At the end of 2008, there were 44 wells still active on the field, all operated by E&B. All but one of these wells was in the Main Area; the other was the solitary well still producing in the Southeast Area.
Cuyama Valley
The Cuyama Valley is a valley along the Cuyama River in central California, in northern Santa Barbara, southern San Luis Obispo, southwestern Kern, and northwestern Ventura counties. It is a sparsely inhabited area containing two significant towns – Cuyama and New Cuyama – and is largely used for...
of northern Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara County, California
Santa Barbara County is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California, on the Pacific coast. As of 2010 the county had a population of 423,895. The county seat is Santa Barbara and the largest city is Santa Maria.-History:...
and southern San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo County, California
San Luis Obispo County is a county located along the Pacific Ocean in the Central Coast of the U.S. state of California, between Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2010 census its population was 269,637, up from 246,681 at the 2000 census...
Counties, California, in the United States. Discovered in 1948, and reaching peak production in 1950, it has produced over 68 Moilbbl of oil in its lifetime; with only an estimated 216000 barrels (34,341.3 m³) of recoverable oil remaining, and having produced around 66,000 in 2008, it is considered to be close to exhaustion. The primary operator on the field as of 2010 is E&B Natural Resources, which also runs the nearby South Cuyama Oil Field
South Cuyama Oil Field
The South Cuyama Oil Field is a large oil and gas field in the Cuyama Valley and the adjacent northern foothills of the Sierra Madre Mountains in northeastern Santa Barbara County, California...
. p. 100, 126
Setting
The oil field one of the two significant fields in the Cuyama Valley, the other being the much larger South Cuyama Oil FieldSouth Cuyama Oil Field
The South Cuyama Oil Field is a large oil and gas field in the Cuyama Valley and the adjacent northern foothills of the Sierra Madre Mountains in northeastern Santa Barbara County, California...
. The Russell Ranch field is about seven miles (11 km) west-northwest of the town of New Cuyama
New Cuyama, California
New Cuyama is a census-designated place in the Cuyama Valley, in Santa Barbara County, California, in the United States. It was named after the Chumash Indian word for "clams", most likely due to the millions of petrified prehistoric clamshell fossils that are found in the surrounding areas...
. The total productive area is about 1540 acres (6.2 km²), and the field is about five miles (8 km) long by one-half mile across, with the long axis trending approximately northwest to southeast, beginning at Whiterock Bluff in the Caliente Range
Caliente Range
The Caliente Range is a west-east trending zone of uplift mountains in the Pacific Coast Ranges, in central California. They are home to 5106 foot Caliente Mountain, the highest peak in San Luis Obispo County, California.-Geologic setting:...
, crossing under the Cuyama River
Cuyama River
The Cuyama River is a river in southern San Luis Obispo County, northern Santa Barbara County, and northern Ventura County, in the U.S. state of California. It joins the Sisquoc River forming the Santa Maria River...
, and ending in the foothills of the Sierra Madre Mountains
Sierra Madre Mountains (California)
The Sierra Madre Mountains are a mountain range in northern Santa Barbara County, California, USA. They are a portion of the Inner South Coast Ranges, representing the southernmost part, which are themselves part of the Pacific Coast Ranges of western North America. The Sierra Madre Mountains...
. The Cuyama River, and California State Route 166 which parallels the river, cut through the center of the field; travelers on Route 166 have a brief view of oil storage tanks and several pumpjacks, but most of the oilfield operations are out of sight from the public right-of-way.
Elevations on the field range from around 1750 feet (533.4 m) where the river cuts across the field, to around 2200 feet (670.6 m) at the southern end in the hills. Terrain consists of an alluvial plain around the river, and grass- and brush-covered hills, cut by numerous gullies and badlands, at both ends of the field in the lower portion of the Caliente and Sierra Madre mountains. Climate is Mediterranean
Mediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate is the climate typical of most of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, and is a particular variety of subtropical climate...
, but modified by the distance from the coast; winters are colder, with occasional freezes, and summertime temperatures sometimes top 100 °F (37.8 °C). Drainage is to the Cuyama River, which flows out to the ocean at Guadalupe
Guadalupe, California
Guadalupe is a small city located in Santa Barbara County, California. According to the U.S. Census of 2010, the city has a population of 7,080. It was incorporated as a city on May 19, 1946...
. In the vicinity of the oil field, the predominant land use, aside from activities associated with oil production and storage, is cattle grazing. The bottomlands of the Cuyama Valley, adjacent to the field on the east-southeast, are primarily agricultural.
Geology
Unlike many oil fields in central California, the Russell Ranch field is not an anticlinalAnticline
In structural geology, an anticline is a fold that is convex up and has its oldest beds at its core. The term is not to be confused with antiform, which is a purely descriptive term for any fold that is convex up. Therefore if age relationships In structural geology, an anticline is a fold that is...
formation with an obvious surface expression – indeed the geologic formation containing oil is quite invisible from the ground surface, being covered with alluvium and masked by the mountain ranges running almost perpendicular to the oil field. The oil is in a large homocline
Homocline
In structural geology, a uniclinal structure, homoclinal structure, unicline or homocline is a sedimentary rock unit, which may also be associated with a stratigraphic landform, where the underlying strata are tilted in the same direction, especially with near uniform dip angle...
, including porous sedimentary
Sedimentary rock
Sedimentary rock are types of rock that are formed by the deposition of material at the Earth's surface and within bodies of water. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause mineral and/or organic particles to settle and accumulate or minerals to precipitate from a solution....
units dipping northeast and essentially planar, which terminate at the Russell Fault, a normal fault with an approximately 1000 feet (304.8 m) vertical offset which has barricaded upwards movement of hydrocarbon
Hydrocarbon
In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrocarbons from which one hydrogen atom has been removed are functional groups, called hydrocarbyls....
s against impermeable rock of Pliocene
Pliocene
The Pliocene Epoch is the period in the geologic timescale that extends from 5.332 million to 2.588 million years before present. It is the second and youngest epoch of the Neogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Pliocene follows the Miocene Epoch and is followed by the Pleistocene Epoch...
age. The oil-bearing rocks in the homocline – the Santa Margarita and Vaqueros Formations, of late and early Miocene
Miocene
The Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about . The Miocene was named by Sir Charles Lyell. Its name comes from the Greek words and and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern sea invertebrates than the Pliocene. The Miocene follows the Oligocene...
age respectively – are sandstones with a porosity of between 23 and 32 percent.
The oil field has four separate pools or producing horizons within its main area, and one small pool in another area about one-half mile southeast of the main part of the field. The four pools in the main area, all discovered in 1948 and 1949, are the Santa Margarita, in the formation of the same name, of late Miocene age; and the Dibblee, Griggs-Dibblee, and Colgrove, all in the Vaqueros Formation of early Miocene age. The pool in the Southeast Area is also in the Dibblee Sand of the Vaqueros Formation. Depths of the pools range from 2500 feet (762 m) below ground surface in the Santa Margarita to 3,600 in the Dibblee Sand in the Southeast area, and oil is of medium grade, with API gravity
API gravity
The American Petroleum Institute gravity, or API gravity, is a measure of how heavy or light a petroleum liquid is compared to water. If its API gravity is greater than 10, it is lighter and floats on water; if less than 10, it is heavier and sinks...
ranging from 25 to 40. Sulfur content is generally low, with values from 0.26 to 0.46 percent in each of the pools.
History, production, and operations
The Russell Ranch field was the first to be found in the Cuyama Valley. Prospectors had long suspected the presence of oil there – after all, almost all the surrounding basins were full of oil fields, which only needed to be found by drilling deep enough – but early boreholes found nothing of commercial value. A well drilled in the 1920s near the western edge of the field found nothing, and wells drilled in 1945–6 found traces of oil sands, a promising sign. Norris Oil Company put in the discovery well on January 1, 1948, which produced 190 oilbbl/d; unfortunately the production turned to water quickly, and prospectors began looking for a more favorable location. Richfield Oil Company, an ancestor of ARCOARCO
Atlantic Richfield Company is an oil company with operations in the United States as well as in Indonesia, the North Sea, and the South China Sea. It has more than 1,300 gas stations in the western part of the United States. ARCO was originally formed by the merger of East Coast-based Atlantic...
(now BP
BP
BP p.l.c. is a global oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest company in the world measured by revenues and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors"...
), put in the well which found the most productive area of the field, drilling to a depth of 4218 feet (1,285.6 m) into the Dibblee Sand (named for Thomas Dibblee
Thomas Dibblee
Thomas Wilson Dibblee, Jr. was an American geologist best known for his extensive geological mapping...
, the geologist who led Richfield to explore for oil in the Cuyama Valley). This well produced over 350 oilbbl/d, and many more wells followed; each of the producing horizons had been discovered before 1950, and by July 1, 1950, there were 142 producing wells on the field. The success of the Russell Ranch field development led quickly to the discovery of the South Cuyama field
South Cuyama Oil Field
The South Cuyama Oil Field is a large oil and gas field in the Cuyama Valley and the adjacent northern foothills of the Sierra Madre Mountains in northeastern Santa Barbara County, California...
about seven miles (11 km) to the southeast, in 1949; this field proved to be have over three times the oil of the Russell Ranch field, and remains the largest in the Cuyama Valley.
The field reached its peak production in 1950, when 7.9 Moilbbl of oil were withdrawn from the reservoir. Inevitably, production declined, and field operators employed several enhanced recovery technologies to increase reservoir pressure and keep the wells flowing. Waterflooding was begun in 1953, and air injection in 1971. A cyclic steam
Steam injection (oil industry)
Steam injection is an increasingly common method of extracting heavy oil. It is considered an enhanced oil recovery method and is the main type of thermal stimulation of oil reservoirs. There are several different forms of the technology, with the two main ones being Cyclic Steam Stimulation and...
program ran from 1966 to 1968 but failed to produce any significant benefit.
The field changed hands several times, with West America Resources and J.P. Oil among the owners prior to the purchase by E&B Natural Resources from J.P. Oil in 2003. E&B, the current operator, reported pumping 66621 barrels (10,591.9 m³) of oil in 2008; its wells were averaging only 4.1 oilbbl/d, a figure typical of a field near the end of its useful life. At the end of 2008, there were 44 wells still active on the field, all operated by E&B. All but one of these wells was in the Main Area; the other was the solitary well still producing in the Southeast Area.