Heavy oil spells boom for California
Getty Oil Co. has begun construction of 2 pilot plants as an initial phase of a heavy oil mining venture which, if successful, could produce enough oil to rank as California's biggest onshore discovery in 30 yr. The company hopes to recover 380 million bbl of oil from an open pit mining operation in California's McKittrick Field, located 40 miles west of Bakersfield. The oil is trapped in diatomaceous earth, which has resisted conventional methods to make it give up its bonanza. The diatomaceous earth, or diatomite, was formed by the hard, silicious shells of diatoms (tiny, one-celled algae which lived in the inland bay). Getty foresees a development that would produce approximately 20,000 bpd of 13.6 - to 14 - gravity oil for a period of approximately 47 yr. Unlike an oil field, which would peak and then decline, the production from the mining operation would be more or less consistent through the life of the project. If the project is successful at McKittrick, conceivably it could have other applications in California oil fields, possibly in mining shallow oil sands or maximizing oil recovery.
- OSTI ID:
- 6369999
- Journal Information:
- Drilling Contract.; (United States), Vol. 37:1
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Getty mines oil sands in California
Getty to mine McKittrick oil
Related Subjects
CALIFORNIA
OIL FIELDS
OIL WELLS
PRODUCTION
DIATOMACEOUS EARTH
DIATOMS
ENHANCED RECOVERY
EXCAVATION
GEOLOGIC TRAPS
OIL SANDS
PETROLEUM
PILOT PLANTS
VISCOSITY
ALGAE
BITUMINOUS MATERIALS
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
ENERGY SOURCES
FEDERAL REGION IX
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
FUNCTIONAL MODELS
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
MATERIALS
MINERAL RESOURCES
NORTH AMERICA
PETROLEUM DEPOSITS
PLANTS
RECOVERY
RESOURCES
USA
WELLS
020300* - Petroleum- Drilling & Production