Midway-Sunset Oil Field facts for kids
The Midway-Sunset Oil Field is a huge area in Kern County, California, where a lot of oil is found deep underground. It's the biggest known oil field in California and one of the largest in the United States. Since it was discovered in 1894, it has produced nearly 4 billion barrels of oil. This field is still very important for California's energy needs.
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Where is the Midway-Sunset Oil Field?
This oil field stretches for about 20 miles (32 km) long and 3 to 4 miles (5 to 6 km) wide. It runs from east of Maricopa to south of McKittrick. You can find most of it in the Midway Valley and the hills near the Temblor Range.
If you drive along State Route 33, you'll see many parts of the oil field. Towns like Taft, Maricopa, and Fellows are actually built right on top of it. There are also other roads, like Midoil Road, that wind through the field, showing you many oil wells.
How Oil is Found Underground
The Midway-Sunset field is like a giant puzzle with 22 different oil pockets, called "reservoirs." These reservoirs are found in different layers of rock, from close to the surface (about 200 feet or 60 meters deep) to much deeper (up to 4,900 feet or 1,500 meters). The oil is trapped in these layers, which are made of different types of rock formed over millions of years.
One famous event happened here in 1910. Drillers accidentally hit a reservoir of oil that was under huge pressure. This caused the Lakeview Gusher, where oil shot out of the ground like a giant fountain for a long time. It was the biggest and longest-lasting oil gusher in U.S. history! Even after this, new oil reservoirs were still being found in the area, even into the 1980s.
Getting the Oil Out
Many companies work at the Midway-Sunset field to get the oil out of the ground. In 2008, there were over 11,000 active oil wells here, which is more than any other oil field in California. When you drive by, you might see hundreds of "pumpjacks" – those nodding machines that pump oil up from the ground.
The oil found here is very thick, like molasses. It doesn't flow easily on its own. So, companies use special methods to help it move. One common way is called "steamflooding." They inject hot steam into the ground, which heats up the thick oil and makes it thinner, so it can flow more easily to the wells and be pumped out. They also use other methods like injecting water to push the oil out.
Making Steam and Electricity
Since so much steam is needed to get the oil, many companies have built special power plants called "cogeneration plants." These plants are very smart! They burn natural gas, which is also found in the oil field. This burning gas creates both electricity and steam. The steam is used to help get the oil out, and the electricity is sent to California's power grid to light up homes and businesses.
One of the biggest cogeneration plants was built in 1989. It helps power many homes and provides steam for the oil field. Building these plants also means taking care of the environment and protecting animals like the San Joaquin kit fox that live nearby.
How Much Oil Has Been Produced?
The Midway-Sunset field has been producing oil for over 120 years, and it's still California's top oil-producing field. People have kept finding new ways to get more oil out of the ground. For example, when they started using steam injection in the 1960s and 70s, they were able to get much more oil than they thought possible.
Because of these new techniques, the estimated amount of oil that can be recovered from the field has been increased many times over the years. It's likely that even more oil can be found and extracted in the future as technology improves. By the end of 2009, about 2.5 billion barrels of oil had been taken from the field, and there was still an estimated 576 million barrels that could be recovered.
