History of oil in California through 1930 facts for kids
The story of oil production in California began in the late 1800s. By 1903, California was the top oil-producing state in the US. It often traded the number one spot with Oklahoma until 1930.
As of 2022, California produces about 3% of the nation's crude oil. Other states like Texas, New Mexico, North Dakota, Alaska, Colorado, and Oklahoma produce more. For a long time, California's oil industry was the state's biggest export. It was also one of the most profitable businesses in the area.
But the history of oil in California goes back much further than the 1800s. For thousands of years before Europeans arrived, Native Americans in California found and used oil from natural seeps. In the mid-1800s, American geologists discovered huge oil reserves in California. They then began drilling for oil on a large scale.
In the early 1900s, California's oil production grew very quickly. However, this fast drilling led to too much oil being produced. The government tried to control the oil market, but it didn't work.
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Oil Before European Settlers Arrived
Native Americans knew about California's oil reserves for thousands of years. They used oil for many things, but not as an energy source. The biggest natural oil seep was the La Brea tar pits in what is now Los Angeles.
Native Americans used oil from La Brea and other seeps mainly as a lubricant. This means they used it to make things move smoothly. They also used it as a sealant to make canoes waterproof. When Spanish explorers came to California in the 1500s, they also used oil. They sealed cracks in their ships and the roofs of their homes with it.
Oil Discoveries in the 1800s
In 1865, the Union Mattole Company started producing oil. This was in the Mattole Valley near Petrolia, California. This happened seven years after Edwin Drake created the first oil drilling system in North America. Drake's system was in Pennsylvania.
Union Mattole Company hoped to find lots of oil in Northern California. They wanted to repeat the success seen in Pennsylvania. At this time, California's population grew a lot after the 1849 gold rush. The demand for oil in California was increasing quickly.
However, Union Mattole did not find enough oil. The company could not produce enough to meet what people needed. Because of this, Californians were in great need of oil.
In 1866, Thomas Bard and Josiah Stanford (brother of Leland Stanford) found oil. They produced it from Sulphur Mountain in the Ojai Basin.
Pico Canyon: California's First Successful Oil Well
Well No. 4 in the Pico Canyon Oilfield was very important. It was located north of the San Fernando Valley in Southern California. This well was the first commercially successful oil well in California. It was also the first in the entire Western United States. Today, this well is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
In 1875, a company called Star Oil Works hired Charles Alexander Mentry. He was hired to manage their drilling in Pico Canyon. This area later became the Pico Canyon Oilfield. Mentry drilled three wells in 1875 and 1876 that looked promising. But the biggest success came with the fourth well.
Mentry started drilling Well No. 4 in July 1876. He struck oil on September 26, 1876. The oil was found at a depth of about 113 meters (370 feet). The well immediately started producing about 25 barrels of oil per day. When Mentry drilled the well deeper, to about 171 meters (560 feet) in 1877, the oil shot up. It reached the top of the 20-meter (65-foot) derrick. This increased production to about 150 barrels of oil per day.
After Well No. 4 was a success, Mentry built California's first oil pipeline. It went from Pico Canyon to the refinery in Newhall. Later, it was extended about 80 kilometers (50 miles) to the ocean at Ventura, California. Well No. 4 kept producing oil for 114 years. It was finally closed in 1990.
By 1883, Pacific Coast Oil Company had bought out other companies in Pico Canyon. This company later became Chevron Corporation. They had 30 wells that were said to produce about 500 barrels of oil per day.
A town called Mentryville was built near Well No. 4. The town was named after Charles Alexander Mentry. He lived there and was in charge of the Pico Canyon operations until he passed away in 1900.
Los Angeles City Oil Field: A New Discovery
Meanwhile, in 1892, Edward L. Doheny and his partner, Charles A. Canfield, found a lot of oil. They were gold prospectors. They discovered oil in the Los Angeles City Oil Field and the surrounding Los Angeles Basin.
When news spread about Doheny and Canfield's discoveries, many drilling companies rushed to Southern California. By 1894, 80 wells were producing oil in the Los Angeles area. By 1897, the number of wells had grown to over 500.
How Oil Discoveries Affected Prices
The discovery of oil in California greatly changed oil prices. This happened both in California and across America. In 1860, about 0.5 million barrels of oil were produced in the whole country. By 1895, California alone produced 1.2 million barrels of oil.
With new oil supplies from California, and more oil from Texas and Pennsylvania, prices dropped. In 1860, a barrel of oil cost $9.60. By 1895, it cost only $0.25.
American oil companies, like Union Oil Company, worried about this. Oil prices had fallen too low for them to make much profit. Union Oil Company and others asked local and federal governments to control the oil market. They wanted to stop too much oil from being produced. However, their efforts did not work. No regulations were passed. Oil prices stayed around $1 until the end of the 1800s.
Oil Production in the 1900s
At the start of the 1900s, oil production in California kept growing very fast. In 1900, California produced 4 million barrels of oil. By 1920, this had jumped to 77 million barrels.
Between 1920 and 1930, new oil fields were found regularly across Southern California. These included Huntington Beach in 1920, Long Beach and Santa Fe Springs in 1921, and Dominguez in 1923 and Inglewood in 1924. Southern California became the main area for oil production in the United States.
A 1926 Times magazine article said that The Standard Oil Company of California was the biggest producer of crude oil in the U.S. It also controlled the selling of oil products along the west coast of both North and South America. During this time, California's farming and manufacturing industries were also growing fast. The increased oil production helped power these growing industries.
However, more oil production in California had some problems. The extra oil fields in California, along with huge oil supplies from Texas (like Spindletop), caused another oil surplus. This again affected the price of oil. With faster oil drilling, the price of oil in the 1920s fell from $28 per barrel to below $10 per barrel.
This issue became a big topic in the American economy and politics. In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge created the Federal Oil Conservation Board. He wanted to control oil production and make the oil market stable. But the American Petroleum Institute (API), which represented over 500 oil companies, was against this plan. They worried that many of their member companies would go out of business. Because of API's resistance, Coolidge's program never gained enough power.
In 1929, the oil market crisis grew worse. Huge amounts of oil were not being used in Southern California and across the U.S. The API changed its mind and asked its members to limit their oil production. Also, like President Coolidge, President Herbert Hoover tried to control oil overproduction at the federal level.
Hoover met with California Governor C.C. Young. They wanted to create a group to regulate the oil industry. But Hoover's idea was defeated. Many of the largest oil companies were against federal regulation. By 1930, there was still no solution for the low oil prices in California and across the United States.
Oil Production Since 1930
