History of oil in California through 1930

File:THE OIL DISTRICT, LOS ANGELES.jpg in 1895]]

The history of oil production in California began in the late 19th century.{{cite web |url=ftp://ftp.consrv.ca.gov/pub/oil/history/History_of_Calif.pdf |title= Oil and Gas Production: History in California|work=State of California |date=March 18, 2013 |accessdate=October 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20120130203740/ftp://ftp.consrv.ca.gov/pub/oil/history/History_of_Calif.pdf |archive-date=2012-01-30 |url-status=dead}} In 1903, California became the leading oil-producing state in the US, and traded the number one position back-and forth with Oklahoma through the year 1930.G. R. Hopkins and A. B. Coons, 1934, "Crude petroleum and petroleum products," in: Statistical Appendix to Minerals Yearbook 1932-33, US Bureau of Mines, p.306-307. {{as of|2022}}, California produced 3% of the crude oil of the nation, behind Texas, New Mexico, North Dakota, Alaska, Colorado, and Oklahoma.{{cite web |title=Monthly Crude Oil and Natural Gas Production |url=https://www.eia.gov/petroleum/production/#oil-tab |publisher=U.S. Energy Information Administration |access-date=22 May 2022}} In the past century, California's oil industry grew to become the state's number one GDP export and one of the most profitable industries in the region.Hugenin, E., 1945, History of gas conservation in California. In Summary of operations The history of oil in the state of California, however, dates back much earlier than the 19th century."The Story of Oil in California." Paleontological Research Institution. Web.18 Mar. 2013. . For thousands of years prior to European settlement in America, Native Americans in the California territory excavated oil seeps. By the mid-19th century, American geologists discovered the vast oil reserves in California and began mass drilling in the Western Territory. While California's production of excavated oil increased significantly during the early 20th century, the accelerated drilling resulted in an overproduction of the commodity, and the federal government unsuccessfully made several attempts to regulate the oil market.

Oil in pre-Columbian California

Native Americans were keenly aware of oil reserves in California, and they relied on its utility for thousands of years, albeit not for energy sources. The most abundant oil seep in the ancient California territory was the La Brea tar pits, in present-day Los Angeles. Native Americans used oil from La Brea and other seeps primarily as a lubricant, but they also used it as a sealant to waterproof canoes. When Spanish explorers arrived in California in the 1500s, they also used oil to seal cracks in their ships and the roofs of their homes.

19th century

File:Oil crew in Coyote fields, California.jpg Libraries & Press}}{{cite book |last1=McLaughlin |first1=Roy Parmelee |last2=Waring |first2=Clarence Almon |title=Petroleum industry of California |date=1914 |publisher=California State Mining Bureau |location=San Francisco |url=https://archive.org/details/petroleumindustr00mclarich |access-date=31 March 2023 |via= archive.org}}{{cite journal |last1=Viehe |first1=Fred W. |title=The Social-Spatial Distribution in the Black Gold Suburbs of Los Angeles, 1900-1930 |journal=Southern California Quarterly |date=1 April 1991 |volume=73 |issue=1 |pages=33–54 |doi=10.2307/41171559 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41171559 |access-date=31 March 2023}}{{cite web |title=california oil fields |url=https://www.science.gov/topicpages/c/california+oil+fields |website=science.gov |access-date=31 March 2023}}{{cite web |title=The Oil Fields of the Los Angeles Basin |url=https://clui.org/sites/default/files/siteimages/eastern_inland_web.pdf |website=The Center for Land Use Interpretation |access-date=31 March 2023}} California,
undated, circa 1860-1920]]

In 1865, seven years after Edwin Drake developed the first oil drilling system in North America—located in Pennsylvania—Union Mattole Company started producing oil in the Mattole Valley near Petrolia, California.{{cite ohp|543|California's First Drilled Oil Wells|2012-10-07}} Union Mattole Company hoped to replicate the success of the Pennsylvania drillings and find large amounts of oil in Northern California. During this period, California's population increased by approximately 375% in the years following the 1849 gold rush, and California's demand for oil was increasing dramatically."Historical Census Populations 1850-2010." California Department of Finance. . However, Union Mattole failed to find sufficient oil supplies. The company could not produce the oil to keep up with consumer demand. As a result, Californians found themselves in desperate need of oil.

In 1866, Thomas Bard and Josiah Stanford (Leland Stanford's brother) produced oil from Sulphur Mountain in the Ojai Basin.{{cite journal |last1=Nelson |first1=Mike |title=The Hunt for California Crude |journal=AAPG Explorer |date=2020 |volume=41 |issue=2 |page=18 |url=https://explorer.aapg.org/story/articleid/56103/the-hunt-for-california-oil |accessdate=13 February 2020}}

=Pico Canyon Oilfield=

Well No. 4 in the Pico Canyon Oilfield, located in the Santa Susana Mountains north of the San Fernando Valley in Southern California, was the first commercially successful oil well in California and the Western United States.See: Wikipedia Pico Canyon Oilfield article, with extensive notes and references. The well is on the National Register of Historic Places listings in Los Angeles County.

In 1875, the Star Oil Works, later reorganized as the California Star Oil Works Company, hired Charles Alexander Mentry (1846-1900) to supervise its drilling operations in Pico Canyon, which became the Pico Canyon Oilfield. Mentry drilled three wells in 1875 and 1876 that showed promise, but the "gusher" came with the fourth well. Mentry began drilling Well No. 4 in July 1876 and struck oil on September 26, 1876, at a depth of {{convert|370|ft|m}}. The well immediately began producing {{convert|25|oilbbl/d|m3/d}}. When Mentry drilled the well to a depth of {{convert|560|ft|m}} in 1877, the oil spurted to the top of the {{convert|65|ft|m|adj=on}} derrick, increasing the production to {{convert|150|oilbbl/d|m3/d}}. After Well No. 4 proved to be a success, Mentry constructed the first oil pipeline in California from Pico Canyon to the refinery in Newhall, later extending it {{convert|50|mi|km}} to the ocean at Ventura, California. Well No. 4 continued producing oil for 114 years before it was finally capped in 1990.

By 1883, Pacific Coast Oil Company (which later became Standard Oil of California) had bought out the competition in Pico Canyon and had 30 wells said to be producing {{convert|500|oilbbl/d|m3/d}}.{{Cite news |last=Lee |first=Don |date=2024-08-02 |title=Chevron, after 145 years in California, is relocating to Texas, a milestone in oil's long decline in the state |url=https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2024-08-02/chevron-in-a-blow-to-california-says-it-is-relocating-to-houston |access-date=2024-08-03 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}

A boomtown named Mentryville was built a short distance from Well No. 4. The town was named after Charles Alexander Mentry, who lived in the town and served as the superintendent of the Pico Canyon operations until his death in 1900.

=Los Angeles City Oil Field=

Meanwhile, in 1892, Edward L. Doheny, a gold prospector, and his partner, Charles A. Canfield, discovered an abundance of oil within the Los Angeles City Oil Field and surrounding Los Angeles Basin of Southern California. When word spread about Doheny and Canfield's discoveries, drilling companies flocked to Southern California. By 1894, 80 wells were producing oil in the Los Angeles area; by 1897, the number of wells had bourgeoned to over 500.

=Oil production and prices=

The discovery of oil in California had a significant impact on the price of oil—both in the state of California and across America. In 1860, 0.5 million barrels of oil were produced throughout the country. By 1895, the state of California, alone, produced 1.2 million barrels of oil."The California Oil Boom." Eno Petroleum Corporation. 19 Mar. 2013. . With the new oil supplies from California—along with increased oil production in Texas and Pennsylvania—the price decreased from $9.60 per barrel in 1860 to $0.25 per barrel in 1895."Historical Crude Oil Prices, 1861 to Present." Charts Bin. .

American oil companies including Union Oil Company became concerned with this development because oil prices had fallen too low for oil companies to maintain high profit margins. Union Oil Company and other oil companies lobbied local and federal governments to regulate the overproduction in the oil market.https://www.tsl.state.tx.us/exhibits/railroad/oil/page4.html The Oil Wars Their attempts were futile, however, and no regulation was passed. Oil prices remained around $1 through the end of the 19th century.

20th century

File:Oil refinery in Martinez, California.JPG, in Martinez, California, has operated continuously since its construction in 1915.]]

File:Huntington Beach, 1926.jpg, 1926]]

At the turn of the century, oil production in California continued to rise at a booming rate. In 1900, the state of California produced 4 million barrels. In 1920, production had expanded to 77 million barrels. Between 1920 and 1930, new oil fields across Southern California were being discovered with regularity including Huntington Beach in 1920, Long Beach and Santa Fe Springs in 1921, and Dominguez in 1923 and Inglewood in 1924. Southern California had become the hotbed for oil production in the United States. In a 1926 Times magazine article, it was said, "[The Standard Oil Company of California] is the largest individual producer of crude oil in the U.S. and dominates the marketing of petroleum products along the west coast of both Americas." During this same period, California's agriculture and manufacturing markets were also expanding rapidly, and the increased oil production helped to power the development of these industries.

However, the development of increased oil production in California had consequences. The additional California oil fields—along with booming oil supplies in Texas from Spindletop—resulted in another surplus of oil reaching the market, again impacting the price of the commodity. With the accelerated oil drillings, the price of oil in the 1920s fell from $28 per barrel to below $10 per barrel. The issue became an increasingly debated topic in the American economy and political arena. In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge created the Federal Oil Conservation Board in an effort to control oil production and stabilize the oil market."The Oil Wars." Texas State Library and Archives Commission. . However, the American Petroleum Institute (API), representing over 500 oil companies, opposed the program because it feared many of its affiliated oil corporations would go out of business. Ultimately, through API's resistance, Coolidge's program never gained sufficient power.

In 1929, however, the sense of crisis in the oil market grew as vast amounts of oil supplies were going unused in Southern California and throughout the US. The API reversed its stance and urged its members to limit its oil production. Additionally, like his predecessor, President Herbert Hoover attempted to control oil overproduction on the federal level. Hoover met with California Governor C.C. Young to create a commission to regulate the oil industry. Hoover's proposal was defeated because many of the largest oil companies opposed federal regulation. By 1930, there was no solution in place for the depressed oil prices in California and across the United States.