Mc Kittrick Oil Field - History, Production, and Operations

History, Production, and Operations

The McKittrick Tar Pits have been known to the local Native American population, the Yokuts, from prehistoric times. They used the asphaltum as a sealant, for waterproofing, for decoration, for adhesive, and for trade.

In the 1860s, San Joaquin Valley settlers made the first attempts to mine the asphaltum, digging pits, trenches, and tunnels. They refined the viscous substance onsite, making it into lubricating oil and kerosene. These early attempts were only marginally profitable, but this changed in 1896 when the first real oil well was drilled. The Klondike Oil Company's Shamrock gusher, which spewed 1,300 barrels (210 m3) of oil per day, was not only the first gusher in the region, but the first significant oil well in the San Joaquin Valley, which went on to become one of the richest petroleum regions in the nation.

Many of the deeper pools were found in the 1960s, and some of them proved not only to have higher quality oil, but were more productive. In the Northeast Area, the Phacoides, Oceanic, and Point of Rocks pools vary from 7,900 to 9,100 ft (2,400 to 2,800 m) below ground surface; the temperature of the oil varies from 230 to 260 °F (110 to 127 °C) at that depth, and the initial reservoir pressures were also high, up to 4,100 psi (28,000 kPa), pressures that would have caused major blowouts and gushers during the early part of the century, but can be better managed with modern technology.

As of 2008, there were 1,135 producing oil wells on the field. Producers besides Chevron Corp., the largest, included Aera Energy LLC, Berry Petroleum, Vintage, E & B Natural Resources Management Corp., Plains Exploration & Production, Longbow, LLC, and others.