when people think of los angeles they most likely think of things like hollywood beverly hills and beautiful beaches the one thing that probably doesn't come to mind is oil but before los angeles became la la land it was home to some of the richest oil fields in the country and was a key factor to its population boom way before there were any european settlers in los angeles native americans well aware of the oil reserves in california would excavate oil seeps and use the oil not as an energy source but for such things as a lubricant or as a sealant to waterproof canoes oil seeps are spots where crude oil naturally leaks out of the ground from a bigger reservoir below depending on the oil's composition a seep can be a sticky tarlike substance california's population grew dramatically following the 1849 gold rush and so did its demand for oil at the time the most significant use of oil was as kerosene which was burned in lamps to provide light in homes and businesses until the development of the internal combustion engine significantly shifting demand towards transportation in the early 1900s the first oil drilling in the state was in 1865 by the union ml company in the ml valley but the company failed to find sufficient oil supplies the first successful commercial oil field was the pico canyon oil field located in the santa susanna mountains just north of the san fernando valley in southern california in 1876 star oil works drilled three holes that showed promise but the gusher came from the fourth well known as pico number four the well immediately began producing 25 barrels a day and eventually 150 barrels a day showing that oil drilling in southern california was viable pico number four continued producing oil for 114 years before it was finally capped in 1990 in 1892 gold prospector edward dohini and his partner charles canainfield discovered an abundance of oil in los angeles known as the los angeles city oil field the los angeles city oil field is located just north of downtown la long and narrow it extends immediately south of current day dodger stadium west to vermont avenue encompassing an area about 4 miles long by a/4 mile across oil in the los angeles city field is relatively close to the surface and it was once the top producing oil field in california accounting for more than half of the state's oil in 1895 in its peak year of 1901 about 200 separate oil companies were active on the field which is now entirely built over by dense residential and commercial development the fortunes made during the development of this field led directly to the discovery and exploitation of other fields in the los angeles basin like the salt lake and beverly hills fields to the west the los angeles downtown oil field just to the south and the brea oinda field to the southeast at the turn of the century oil production in southern california continued to rise at a booming rate in the 1920s and 30s new oil fields across southern california were being discovered with regularity including huntington beach in 1920 long beach and santa fe springs in 1921 dominguez in 1923 and englewood in 1924 in 1932 the giant wilmington field that stretches from carson to long beach was discovered southern california had become the hotbed for oil production in the us during this period california's agricultural and manufacturing markets were expanding rapidly and increased oil production helped to power the development of these industries los angeles was the saudi arabia of the period producing as much as a quarter of the world's oil supply the population of la increased in part because of the oil boom urban housing filled the spaces in between the drilling attempts to zone the oil industry in the 30s to protect real estate values were largely suspended during world war ii development of oil fields was haphazard and often makeshift which would lead to spills blowouts and explosions drilling continued along in the 50s and 60s along with continued residential and commercial development around the drill sites a process known as aesthetic mitigation was undertaken by several oil companies in the 1960s the cardiff tower an oil well opened in 1966 and the historically jewish neighborhood of pico robinson mimics the architecture of a synagogue the packard well site which opened on jennese a in 1967 was disguised to look like an office building on the outside the beverly center mall curves to skirt a drill site tapping an oil field in beverly hills in 2000 an oil derek that had dominated the campus of beverly high school for decades was hidden beneath a soundproof shed clad in vinyl sighting which was painted with flowers and renamed the tower of hope the industry took less care of sites and poor neighborhoods mixing the industrial nature of oil drilling with dense commercial and residential properties is not a good mix and makes for a volatile cocktail oil drilling releases chemicals that are harmful to humans and on march 24th 1985 methane gas seeped up from the salt lake oil field through faults and old well bore holes into an auxiliary room at a raw stress for less and ignited causing a massive explosion which blew out windows and partially collapsing the roof injuring 23 people at the time los angeles was in the middle of planning and constructing the metro red line a subway system that promised to link various parts of the sprawling city the blast exposed the dangers of tunneling through methane rich zones fears escalated quickly about the potential for similar explosions elsewhere especially along the planned subway route in a comprehensive regulatory response the city imposed stringent building codes and established the methane zone ordinance which require new constructions in certain areas to implement gas detection and venting systems the metro rail project incorporated state-of-the-art methane detection systems and emergency ventilation procedures in its design setting a new standard for subway safety since the 80s when production peaked the oil in los angeles county that was relatively easy to extract is gone now and the large multinational fossil fuel companies have largely left leaving smaller operators to dig up what remains in recent years several of the city's best known oil wells including the tower of hope and the packard well site have closed old abandoned oil wells in la often pose a problem due to their potential to leak harmful pollutants like methane and benzene into the air soil and groundwater especially when situated close to homes schools and parks in december of 2022 the los angeles city council unanimously voted to ban new oil and gas drilling within the city limits the ordinance also required that all existing oil and gas operations stop production within 20 years the ban was challenged in court by oil companies and in september of 2024 a la county superior court judge overturned the ban leaving the future of oil drilling in la in limbo thanks for watching 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