Hogan to Heritage: 33 Years of Pacific OCS Production

By

J.R. Barminski and M.R. Brickey (Minerals Management Service)

As of June 2001, more than 1 billion barrels of oil and 1.2 trillion cubic feet of gas have been produced from oil and gas fields in the Pacific OCS Region. The Minerals Management Service oversees the management of these fields. Thirteen producing fields are located in the Region: Beta, Carpinteria, Dos Cuadras, Hondo, Hueneme, Pescado, Pitas Point, Point Arguello, Point Pedernales, Sacate, Santa Clara, Sockeye, and Tranquillon Ridge. The Pitas Point field is a gas field; the rest are oil. Dos Cuadros field has produced the most oil, 250 million barrels, and Hondo field has produced the most gas, 432 billion cubic feet. Production began in June 1968 from Carpenteria field; Sacate field was last in September 1999.

Oil production (December 2000) averaged 101,000 barrels per day. Gas production averaged 212 million cubic feet per day. Production comes from Tertiary sandstones and fractured cherts, with the Monterey formation producing the most oil and the most gas. Six companies operate 23 platforms: Aera, Arguello, Inc., ExxonMobil, Nuevo, Pacific Operators, and Venoco. Platform water depths range from 95 to 1,198 feet.

Over 1200 wells have been drilled in the Region. Producing subsea depths range from 386 to 17, 915 feet. Vertical, directional, horizontal, and multi-lateral wells have been drilled. The longest horizontal reach well, SA-002, was drilled in Sacate field in 2000. Well H-3 producing from Hondo field has produced almost 30 million barrels of oil, which makes it the most prolific oil producer in California, and possibly the lower 48 states. 

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90008©2002 AAPG Pacific Section/SPE Western Region Joint Conference of Geoscientists and Petroleum Engineers, Anchorage, Alaska, May 18–23, 2002.