 | |
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| Region | Santa Maria Basin |
| Location | Santa Barbara County, California |
| Offshore/onshore | onshore |
| Operators | Greka Energy, B.E. Conway Energy |
| Field history | |
| Discovery | 1934 |
| Start of development | 1934 |
| Start of production | 1934 |
| Peak year | 1945 |
| Production | |
| Current production of oil | 363 barrels per day (~18,100 t/a) |
| Year of current production of oil | 2009 |
| Current production of gas | 0.715×106 cu ft/d (20.2×103 m3/d) |
| Year of current production of gas | 2009 |
| Estimated oil in place | 1.033 million barrels (~1.409×105 t) |
| Estimated gas in place | 0.994×109 cu ft (28.1×106 m3) |
| Producing formations | Monterey, Sisquoc |
The Santa Maria Valley Oil Field is an oil field in Santa Barbara County, California, largely underneath the city of Santa Maria and adjacent unincorporated Orcutt. Discovered in 1934, it is the 30th largest oil field in California, and retains approximately 1 million barrels of recoverable oil as of the beginning of 2010, less than one-half of one percent of the total produced in its lifetime. The largest operator on the field in 2012 was Greka Energy, which also owns an asphalt refinery on the field west of Santa Maria. 74 wells remain active, producing heavy oil. Much of the oil is converted into asphalt at the refinery.