The Lost Hills Oil Field is a large oil field in the Lost Hills Range, north of the town of Lost Hills in western Kern County , California , in the United States .
93-553: While only the 18th-largest oil field in California in size, in total remaining reserves it ranks sixth, with the equivalent of over 110 million barrels (17,000,000 m) producible reserves still in the ground, according to the California Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources ( Chevron Corp. , the principal operator, estimates considerably more oil in the ground). Production at Lost Hills has been increasing steadily: as of
186-841: A shale oil extraction process named Chevron CRUSH . In 2006, the United States Department of the Interior issued a research, development and demonstration lease for Chevron's demonstration oil shale project on public lands in Colorado's Piceance Basin . In February 2012, Chevron notified the Bureau of Land Management and the Department of Reclamation, Mining and Safety that it intended to divest this lease. Starting in 2010, Chevron began to reduce its retail footprint and expand in domestic natural gas. In July 2010, Chevron ended retail operations in
279-532: A 30 percent holding in its Canadian oil shale holdings to Kuwait 's state-owned oil company Kuwait Oil Company for a fee of $ 1.5 billion. Despite these sales, Chevron continued to explore acquisitions, a trend which had reinvigorated in 2019 and extended throughout the COVID-19 pandemic . In April 2019, Chevron announced its intention to acquire Anadarko Petroleum in a deal valued at $ 33 billion, but decided to focus on other acquisitions shortly afterwards when
372-562: A combined 400,000 barrels per day.from two offshore projects. With the potential to develop 10 more projects, Guyana becomes one of the fastest-growing oil regions that Chevron now has access to. In 2023, Chevron entered into a 10-year agreement with state-owned Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) to license, manufacture, distribute and sell Chevron lubricants in India under the Caltex brand. In August 2024, Chevron earmarked $ 1 billion in
465-534: A combined market value of approximately $ 95 billion. Completed on October 9, 2001, Chevron temporarily renamed itself to ChevronTexaco between 2001 and 2005; after the company reverted its name to Chevron, Texaco became used as a brand by the company for some of its fueling stations. 2005 also saw Chevron purchase Unocal Corporation for $ 18.4 billion, increasing the company's petroleum and natural gas reserves by about 15%. Because of Unocal's large South East Asian geothermal operations, Chevron became
558-555: A company that provides portable carbon capture technology for the oil field and other industrial facilities. Two years later, Chevron announced that they will acquire Renewable Energy Group , a biodiesel production company based in Ames, Iowa . The acquisition was completed just under four months later on June 13. In the Americas, Chevron acquired natural gas company Beyond6, LLC (B6) and its network of 55 compressed natural gas stations across
651-630: A comparative analysis of various land subsidence monitoring techniques. The results indicated that InSAR offered the highest coverage, lowest annual cost per point of information and the highest point density. Additionally, they found that, aside from continuous acquisition systems typically installed in areas with rapid subsidence, InSAR had the highest measurement frequencies. In contrast, leveling, non-permanent GNSS, and non-permanent extensometers generally provided only one or two measurements per year. These methods project future land subsidence trends by extrapolating from existing data, treating subsidence as
744-474: A deal could not be reached. Despite the failed acquisition of Andarko, Chevron did acquire Noble Energy for $ 5 billion in July 2020. Chevron was not spared from the pandemic, however, as Chevron announced reductions of 10–15% of its workforce due to both the pandemic and a 2020 oil price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia . During the pandemic, Chevron considered a merger with rival ExxonMobil in 2020 during
837-581: A domestic gas plant with the capacity to provide 300 terajoules per day to supply gas to Western Australia. It is also developing the Wheatstone liquefied natural gas development in Western Australia. The foundation phase of the project is estimated to cost $ 29 billion; it will consist of two LNG processing trains with a combined capacity of 8.9 million tons per annum, a domestic gas plant and associated offshore infrastructure. In August 2014
930-507: A few spikes, until the enhanced recovery techniques which began to be employed in the 1960s began to pay off. In 1981 the field produced almost 6 million barrels (950,000 m), and has remained a high producer, reaching close to 12 million barrels (1,900,000 m) in 2006. During that year it had the fourth-largest production increase in the state, and preliminary estimates for 2007 show that production has increased yet again, to 12.2 million barrels (1,940,000 m) As of 1997, four pools –
1023-459: A function solely of time. The extrapolation can be performed either visually or by fitting appropriate curves. Common functions used for fitting include linear, bilinear, quadratic, and/or exponential models. For example, this method has been successfully applied for predicting mining-induced subsidence. These approaches evaluate land subsidence based on its relationship with one or more influencing factors, such as changes in groundwater levels,
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#17330853872661116-694: A joint venture with California Standard named Caltex , to drill and produce oil in Saudi Arabia . According to energy analyst and activist shareholder Antonia Juhasz , the Texas Fuel Company and California Standard were often referred to as the "terrible twins" for their cutthroat business practices. In 1911, the federal government broke Standard Oil into several pieces under the Sherman Antitrust Act . One of those pieces, Standard Oil Co. (California), went on to become Chevron. It became part of
1209-618: A key role in helping Nicolas Maduro's government dodge US economic sanctions, using his Syrian and Lebanese parentage to open up new business channels to Iran and Turkey . On January 5, 2022, Chevron temporarily decreased production in Kazakhstan 's Tengiz Field due to the 2022 Kazakh protests , which were motivated by heavy oil price increases. Later that month, Chevron also announced it would end all operations in Myanmar , citing rampant human rights abuses and deteriorating rule of law since
1302-532: A large producer of geothermal energy . The deal did not include Unocal's former retail operations including the Union 76 trademark, as it had sold that off to Tosco Corporation in 1997. The 76 brand is owned by Phillips 66 , unaffiliated with Chevron. Chevron and the Los Alamos National Laboratory started a cooperation in 2006, to improve the recovery of hydrocarbons from oil shale by developing
1395-659: A license to the Gulf trademark in the Northeastern United States since 1986. In 1996, Chevron transferred its natural gas gathering, operating and marketing operation to NGC Corporation (later Dynegy) in exchange for a roughly 25% equity stake in NGC. In a merger completed February 1, 2000, Illinova Corp. became a wholly owned subsidiary of Dynegy Inc. and Chevron's stake increased up to 28%. However, in May 2007, Chevron sold its stake in
1488-594: A long, low range of southeast-to-northwest trending hills of the same name adjacent to the San Joaquin Valley . The hills rise scarcely more than 200 feet (61 m) above the San Joaquin Valley to the east, and only 100 feet (30 m) or less above the Antelope Plain to the west; in places they are almost flat. The hills and associated oil field are between Interstate 5 to the east and State Route 33 to
1581-461: A new research and development (R&D) hub called Chevron Engineering and Innovation Excellence Center (ENGINE) in Bengaluru , India. The first logo featured the legend "Pacific Coast Oil Co.", the name adopted by the company when it was established in 1879. Successive versions showed the word 'Standard' (for "The Standard Oil of California"). In 1968, the company introduced the word 'Chevron' (which
1674-431: A number of years, a cumulative drying occurs as the tree grows. That can lead to the opposite of subsidence, known as heave or swelling of the soil, when the tree declines or is felled. As the cumulative moisture deficit is reversed, which can last up to 25 years, the surface level around the tree will rise and expand laterally. That often damages buildings unless the foundations have been strengthened or designed to cope with
1767-508: A regional headquarters there as of 2013, partially for Marcellus Shale -related drilling. The same year, Standard Oil of California also took the opportunity to change its legal name to Chevron Corporation , since it had already been using the well-known "Chevron" retail brand name for decades. Chevron would sell the Gulf Oil trademarks for the entire U.S. to Cumberland Farms , the parent company of Gulf Oil LP , in 2010 after Cumberland Farms had
1860-485: A result of increased effective stress . In this way, land subsidence has the potential of becoming self-perpetuating, having rates up to 5 cm/yr. Water management used to be tuned primarily to factors such as crop optimization but, to varying extents, avoiding subsidence has come to be taken into account as well. When differential stresses exist in the Earth, these can be accommodated either by geological faulting in
1953-653: A significant gas-condensate discovery at the Lasseter-1 exploration well in WA-274-P in Western Australia, in which Chevron has a 50% interest was announced. The company also has an interest in the North West Shelf Venture , equally shared with five other investors including BP , BHP Petroleum , Shell , Mitsubishi / Mitsui and Woodside . Presently, Chevron is looking to convert its Gorgon Island operations from upstream production to carbon capture and storage . In
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#17330853872662046-551: A solidified crust of rock; mining; pumping of subsurface fluids, such as groundwater or petroleum ; or warping of the Earth's crust by tectonic forces. Subsidence resulting from tectonic deformation of the crust is known as tectonic subsidence and can create accommodation for sediments to accumulate and eventually lithify into sedimentary rock . Ground subsidence is of global concern to geologists , geotechnical engineers , surveyors , engineers , urban planners , landowners, and
2139-678: Is an American multinational energy corporation predominantly specializing in oil and gas . The second-largest direct descendant of Standard Oil , and originally known as the Standard Oil Company of California (shortened to Socal or CalSo ), it is active in more than 180 countries. Within oil and gas, Chevron is vertically integrated and is involved in hydrocarbon exploration , production , refining , marketing and transport, chemicals manufacturing and sales, and power generation . Founded originally in Southern California during
2232-419: Is arid to semi-arid, with an average rainfall of 5 to 6 inches (130 to 150 mm) a year, almost all in the winter months. Vegetation in the vicinity of the field is mostly grassland and sparse scrub, with some adjacent orchards, although in the oil field itself most vegetation has been removed from the areas of active operations. The Lost Hills Field is one of a series of oil fields along anticlines between
2325-515: Is poised to be the world's largest storage facility for hydrogen in renewable energy . In October 2023, Chevron Corporation acquired Hess Corporation in an all-stock deal for $ 53 billion. The acquisition, which was announced on October 23, 2023, opens up new opportunities in the US shale plays and in oil-rich Guyana . Hess Corp, Exxon Mobil and China 's CNOOC , key players in Guyana, have been producing
2418-451: Is relatively predictable in its magnitude, manifestation and extent, except where a sudden pillar or near-surface tunnel collapse occurs (usually very old workings ). Mining-induced subsidence is nearly always very localized to the surface above the mined area, plus a margin around the outside. The vertical magnitude of the subsidence itself typically does not cause problems, except in the case of drainage (including natural drainage)–rather, it
2511-415: Is the associated surface compressive and tensile strains, curvature, tilts and horizontal displacement that are the cause of the worst damage to the natural environment, buildings and infrastructure. Where mining activity is planned, mining-induced subsidence can be successfully managed if there is co-operation from all of the stakeholders. This is accomplished through a combination of careful mine planning,
2604-629: Is the owner of the Standard Oil trademark in 16 states in the western and southeastern United States. Since American trademark law operates under a use-it-or-lose-it rule, the company owns and operates one Standard-branded Chevron station in each state of the area. However, though Chevron (as CalSo) acquired Kyso in the 1960s, its status in Kentucky is unclear after Chevron withdrew its brand from retail sales from Kentucky in July 2010. The 'Chevron' name came into use for some of its retail products in
2697-456: Is volume that can be economically produced. Well spacing on Lost Hills varies based on the geologic characteristics in the unit being drilled, with one well per 5 acres (20,000 m) in siliceous shale to one well per 1.25 acres (5,100 m) in diatomite . A peculiarity of the Lost Hills operations is the pronounced subsidence of the ground surface as it collapses into the area vacated by
2790-1028: Is well known for its slogan "the human energy company", a campaign first launched in September 2007. In a corporate blog, Chevron states "human energy" was chosen as their campaign's slogan and focus because "human energy captures our positive spirit in delivering energy to a rapidly changing world". The slogan remains prominent in Chevron advertising, and Chevron has derived from this slogan to use phrases in marketing such as "it's only human". As of December 31, 2018, Chevron had approximately 48,600 employees (including about 3,600 service station employees). Approximately 24,800 employees (including about 3,300 service station employees), or 51 percent, were employed in U.S. operations. Chevron's dominant regions of production are North America, which produces 1.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent (BBOE), and Eurasia, which produces 1.4 BBOE. Chevron's Eurasian-Pacific operations are concentrated in
2883-544: The 2021 Myanmar coup d'état . A statement released by the company on its website stated while Chevron was committed to an orderly exit which ensured it could still provide energy to Southeast Asia, Chevron remained firmly opposed to the human rights violations committed by the current military rule in Myanmar . Also in 2022, Chevron was reported to explore the sale of stakes in three fields located in Equatorial Guinea . It
Lost Hills Oil Field - Misplaced Pages Continue
2976-590: The Coalinga Oil Field on the north and the Midway-Sunset Field on the south, along the western edge of the San Joaquin Valley. These anticlines run closely parallel to the San Andreas Fault to the west, and formed as a result of compression from tectonic movement. The Lost Hills Field occupies a portion of a SE-plunging anticline. There are six oil pools in the five producing units, which are, from
3069-798: The Rosebank oil and gas field west of Shetland was being evaluated by Chevron and its partners. Chevron drilled its discovery well there in 2004. Production was expected in 2015 if a decision was made to produce from the field. The geology and weather conditions are challenging. Subsidence Subsidence is a general term for downward vertical movement of the Earth's surface, which can be caused by both natural processes and human activities. Subsidence involves little or no horizontal movement, which distinguishes it from slope movement . Processes that lead to subsidence include dissolution of underlying carbonate rock by groundwater ; gradual compaction of sediments ; withdrawal of fluid lava from beneath
3162-650: The Supreme Court , began drilling for more nearby; they soon found the Cahn and Reef Ridge pools, in 1913, and then the Tulare pool in 1915. There were relatively few wells on the field for the first several decades; indeed, by 1979, there were only 39 wells producing from the Monterey Formation, and each of these wells only produced an average of eight barrels per day. It took the development of advanced recovery technology to turn
3255-407: The U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency , Chevron and Phillips failed to properly flare at the plants, causing excess air pollution. The companies agreed to add pollution control systems to the plants as well. Despite the major oil and gas companies, including Chevron, reporting sharp rises in interim revenues and profits due to Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine ,
3348-641: The United Kingdom , Southeast Asia , Kazakhstan , Australia , Bangladesh , and greater China . Chevron additionally operates in South America, the west coast of sub-Saharan Africa (mainly Nigeria and Angola ), Egypt , and Iraq ; these four regions collectively produce 0.4 BBOE. Chevron's largest revenue products are shale and tight , though produces considerable revenue from heavy oil , deepwater offshore drilling , conventional oil, and liquefied natural gas . In October 2015, Chevron announced that it
3441-709: The breakup of Standard Oil by continuing to acquire companies and partnering with others both inside and outside of California, eventually becoming one of the Seven Sisters that dominated the global petroleum industry from the mid-1940s to the 1970s. In 1985, Socal merged with the Pittsburgh-based Gulf Oil and rebranded as Chevron; the newly merged company later merged with Texaco in 2001. Chevron manufactures and sells fuels, lubricants, additives, and petrochemicals, primarily in Western North America ,
3534-535: The " Seven Sisters ", which dominated the world oil industry in the early 20th century. In 1926, the company changed its name to Standard Oil Co. of California (SOCAL). By the terms of the breakup of Standard Oil, at first Standard of California could use the Standard name only within its original geographic area of the Pacific coast states, plus Nevada and Arizona; outside that area, it had to use another name. Today, Chevron
3627-468: The "Bellevue gusher" – involved six months of uncontrolled natural gas expulsion, and a gigantic gas fire that lasted two weeks. On the evening of November 23, a wildcat well being drilled into a promising anticlinal fold underneath the Monterey Formation, northeast of the main Lost Hills field, reached the depth of 17,000 feet (5,200 m) and hit a previously untapped reservoir of gas under intense pressure. Natural gas and petroleum condensate burst from
3720-474: The "Pacific Coast Oil Company", which acquired the assets of Star Oil with $ 1 million in funding. Pacific Coast Oil eventually became the largest oil interest in California, and in 1900, John D. Rockefeller 's Standard Oil acquired Pacific Coast Oil for $ 761,000. In 1906, the Pacific Coast acquired the business operations and assets of the Standard Oil Company (Iowa) . At this time, Pacific renamed itself
3813-578: The 1870s, the company was then based for many decades in San Francisco, California , before moving its corporate offices to San Ramon, California , in 2001; and on August 2, 2024, Chevron announced that it would be relocating its headquarters from California to Houston, Texas , by 2025. Chevron traces its history back to the second half of the 19th century to small California-based oil companies which were acquired by Standard and merged into Standard Oil of California. The company grew quickly on its own after
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3906-421: The 1930s. The name "Calso" was also used from 1946 to 1955, in states outside its native West Coast territory. Standard Oil Company of California ranked 75th among United States corporations in the value of World War II military production contracts. In 1933, Saudi Arabia granted California Standard a concession to find oil, which led to the discovery of oil in 1938. In 1948, California Standard discovered
3999-513: The Biden administration as well as from news commentators within the United States. The 2020s also saw efforts by Chevron to expand into the clean energy industry. Across the 2020s, Chevron invested stakes into fusion power companies, the two largest of them being Zap Energy and TAE Technologies . September 2023 saw Chevron acquire a majority stake in a Utah hydrogen storage facility, which
4092-675: The Fortune 500 in 2023. The company is also the last-remaining oil-and-gas component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average since ExxonMobil's exit from the index in 2020. Chevron has been subject to numerous controversies . One of Chevron's early predecessors, "Star Oil", discovered oil at the Pico Canyon Oilfield in the Santa Susana Mountains north of Los Angeles in 1876. The 25 barrels of oil per day well marked
4185-536: The Gulf of Mexico. As of December 31, 2018, the company's upstream business reported worldwide net production of 2.930 million oil-equivalent barrels per day. In the United States, the company operates approximately 11,000 oil and natural gas wells in hundreds of fields occupying 4,000,000 acres (16,000 km ) across the Permian Basin , located in West Texas and southeastern New Mexico . In 2010, Chevron
4278-571: The Lost Hills into a high-producing oil field. Unusual for a California oil field, the years of maximum recovery were not early in the 20th century, but recently: peak oil production from the Etchegoin Pool did not occur until the early 21st century, assisted by several enhanced recovery technologies, including water flooding and cyclic steam flooding. The early peak in production took place in 1917, during which 4 million barrels (640,000 m) of oil were pumped; then production steadily declined, with
4371-826: The Mid-Atlantic United States by removing the Chevron and Texaco names from 1,100 stations. In 2011, Chevron acquired Pennsylvania-based Atlas Energy Inc. for $ 3.2 billion in cash and an additional $ 1.1 billion in existing debt owed by Atlas. Three months later, Chevron acquired drilling and development rights for another 228,000 acres in the Marcellus Shale from Chief Oil & Gas LLC and Tug Hill, Inc. In September 2013, Total S.A. and its joint-venture partner agreed to buy Chevron's retail distribution business in Pakistan for an undisclosed amount. In October 2014, Chevron announced that it would sell
4464-556: The Pittsburgh-based natural gas firm EQT Corporation in 2020. Chevron's largest single resource project is the $ 43 billion Gorgon Gas Project in Australia. It also produces natural gas from Western Australia. The $ 43 billion project was started in 2010, and was expected to be brought online in 2014. The project includes construction of a 15 million tonne per annum liquefied natural gas plant on Barrow Island , and
4557-804: The Standard Oil Company (California). Since the acquisition of the Pacific Coast Oil Company by Standard Oil, the Standard descendant had traditionally worked closely with Texaco for 100 years, before acquiring Texaco outright in 2001. Originally known as the Texas Fuel Company (later the Texas Company), Texaco was founded in Beaumont, Texas , as an oil-equipment vendor by "Buckskin Joe". The founder's nickname came from being harsh and aggressive. Texas Fuel worked closely with Chevron. In 1936, it formed
4650-795: The Tombua–Landana development and the Mafumeira Norte project, operated by the company. It is also a leading partner in Angola LNG plant . In Kazakhstan , Chevron participate the Tengiz and Karachaganak projects. In 2010, Chevron became the largest private shareholder in the Caspian Pipeline Consortium pipeline, which transports oil from the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea . As of 2013,
4743-470: The Tulare, Etchegoin, Cahn, and Reef Ridge – continued to have active recovery operations using waterflooding, steam flooding, and fire flooding. As of 2008, the principal operators on the Lost Hills Field were Chevron Corp. and Aera Energy LLC . In 1998, the Lost Hills Field was the site of one of the largest and most spectacular well blowouts in modern U.S. history. The Bellevue blowout – also called
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#17330853872664836-455: The US Gulf Coast , Southeast Asia, South Korea and Australia. In 2018, the company produced an average of 791,000 barrels (125,800 m ) of net oil-equivalent per day in United States. Chevron is one of the largest companies in the world and the second-largest oil company based in the United States by revenue, only behind fellow Standard Oil descendant ExxonMobil . Chevron ranked 10th on
4929-971: The United States from Mercuria in November 2022. However, Chevron's largest American moves in the 2020s were in Venezuela , as the Biden administration relaxed restrictions on Chevron from pumping oil in the South American nation, originally imposed due to corruption scandals and human rights violations by Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro . The relaxed restrictions, however, came with severe limitations, including provisions which prohibited Chevron from selling to Russian or Iranian-affiliated agencies and from allowing any direct profits to go to Venezuelan oil company PDVSA . On November 29, 2022, Venezuelan Government Petroleum Minister Tarek El Aissami met in Caracas , Venezuela, with
5022-598: The Williamson Lease identified further rock units as old as the Upper Cretaceous below the Temblor, but none of these lowest units have had oil pools. The Belridge Diatomite portion of the Monterey Formation defines the productive limits of the field. Characteristic of this rock unit is that it is full of oil – almost 50% of the unit is saturated, and the unit has high porosity, in the 45% to 70% range – but very little of
5115-409: The area. The subsidence was brought to a halt when secondary recovery wells pumped enough water into the oil reservoir to stabilize it. Land subsidence can occur in various ways during an earthquake. Large areas of land can subside drastically during an earthquake because of offset along fault lines. Land subsidence can also occur as a result of settling and compacting of unconsolidated sediment from
5208-422: The asthenosphere. If mass is added to a local area of the crust (e.g., through deposition ), the crust subsides to compensate and maintain isostatic balance . The opposite of isostatic subsidence is known as isostatic rebound —the action of the crust returning (sometimes over periods of thousands of years) to a state of isostacy, such as after the melting of large ice sheets or the drying-up of large lakes after
5301-401: The brittle crust , or by ductile flow in the hotter and more fluid mantle . Where faults occur, absolute subsidence may occur in the hanging wall of normal faults. In reverse, or thrust, faults, relative subsidence may be measured in the footwall. The crust floats buoyantly in the asthenosphere , with a ratio of mass below the "surface" in proportion to its own density and the density of
5394-401: The case of Petroboscán, current production is nil and, in Petropiar, current records indicate close to 50,000 barrels per day. On March 20, 2023, Tareck El Aissami resigned from his government post amid serious corruption allegations. Moreover, El Aissami, a longtime Maduro ally, has a $ 10mn US government reward on his head for allegedly facilitating drug trafficking from Venezuela. He played
5487-410: The company for approximately $ 985 million, resulting in a gain of $ 680 million. The early 2000s saw Chevron engage in many mergers, acquisitions, and sales. The first largest of which was the $ 45 billion acquisition of Texaco , announced on October 15, 2000. The acquisition created second-largest oil company in the United States and the world's fourth-largest publicly traded oil company with
5580-447: The discovery of the Newhall Field, and is considered by geophysicist Marius Vassiliou as the beginning of the modern oil industry in California. Energy analyst Antonia Juhasz has said that while Star Oil's founders were influential in establishing an oil industry in California, Union Mattole Company discovered oil in the state eleven years prior. In September 1879, Charles N. Felton , Lloyd Tevis , George Loomis and others created
5673-528: The early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic that drove oil demand sharply down. It would have been one of the largest corporate mergers in history, and a combined Chevron and ExxonMobil (dubbed "Chexxon" by Reuters ) would have been the second-largest oil company in the world, trailing only Saudi Aramco . Later in the pandemic, Chevron began requiring some employees, namely expatriate employees, those working overseas, and workers on U.S.-flagged ships, to receive COVID-19 vaccinations after having some key operations,
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#17330853872665766-445: The effect. High buildings can create land subsidence by pressing the soil beneath with their weight. The problem is already felt in New York City , San Francisco Bay Area , Lagos . Land subsidence leads to the lowering of the ground surface, altering the topography. This elevation reduction increases the risk of flooding , particularly in river flood plains and delta areas. Earth fissures are linear fractures that appear on
5859-407: The end of 2006, it was California's second fastest-growing oil field, exceeded only by the nearby Cymric Field . The Lost Hills field also contains considerable reserves of natural gas . In 1998, one of the field's gas wells was the site of a spectacular blowout, producing a pillar of fire which burned for 14 days and was visible more than 40 miles (64 km) away. The Lost Hills Field underlies
5952-673: The excessive extraction of groundwater, making it a growing problem throughout the world. Groundwater fluctuations can also indirectly affect the decay of organic material. The habitation of lowlands , such as coastal or delta plains, requires drainage . The resulting aeration of the soil leads to the oxidation of its organic components, such as peat , and this decomposition process may cause significant land subsidence. This applies especially when groundwater levels are periodically adapted to subsidence, in order to maintain desired unsaturated zone depths, exposing more and more peat to oxygen. In addition to this, drained soils consolidate as
6045-463: The ground level. Since exploitation of the Slochteren ( Netherlands ) gas field started in the late 1960s the ground level over a 250 km area has dropped by a current maximum of 30 cm. Extraction of petroleum likewise can cause significant subsidence. The city of Long Beach, California , has experienced 9 meters (30 ft) over the course of 34 years of petroleum extraction, resulting in damage of over $ 100 million to infrastructure in
6138-402: The land surface, characterized by openings or offsets. These fissures can be several meters deep, several meters wide, and extend for several kilometers. They form when the deformation of an aquifer, caused by pumping, concentrates stress in the sediment. This inhomogeneous deformation results in the differential compaction of the sediments. Ground fissures develop when this tensile stress exceeds
6231-443: The last ice age. Lake Bonneville is a famous example of isostatic rebound. Due to the weight of the water once held in the lake, the earth's crust subsided nearly 200 feet (61 m) to maintain equilibrium. When the lake dried up, the crust rebounded. Today at Lake Bonneville , the center of the former lake is about 200 feet (61 m) higher than the former lake edges. Many soils contain significant proportions of clay. Because of
6324-516: The off-shore platforms off the Gulf of Mexico and Permian Basin for example. The requirement will begin for workers off the Gulf of Mexico on the first of November. In the 2020s, Chevron's primary focus was on alternative energy solutions, gradual pullouts from Africa and Southeast Asia, and an increased focus on the Americas with a lessened albeit still present interest in natural gas. Chevron in February 2020 joined Marubeni Corporation and WAVE Equity Partners in investing in Carbon Clean Solutions,
6417-425: The oil has been recoverable from the unit (only three to four percent so far). According to Chevron's estimate, there are approximately 2.2 billion barrels (350,000,000 m) of oil in place in the Lost Hills Field, only five percent of which has been extracted. The oil in place is about twenty times greater than the California Department of Oil and Gas reserves estimate (109 million barrels (17,300,000 m)), which
6510-433: The onshore and near-offshore regions of the Niger Delta , Chevron operates under a joint venture with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation , operating and holding a 40% interest in 13 concessions in the region. In addition, Chevron operates the Escravos Gas Plant and the Escravos gas-to-liquids plant . Chevron has interests in four concessions in Angola, including offshore two concessions in Cabinda province ,
6603-415: The petroleum after being pumped out. Portions of the hills overlying the oil field have subsided up to 8 feet (2.4 m) in the central region of operations, and subsidence occurs field-wide at a rate of about 9 inches (230 mm) per year. The dropping land surface causes operational problems, including fractures of well casings, and sometimes complete well failures. Waterflooding – the practice of filling
6696-469: The president of Chevron, Javier La Rosa. The Venezuelan ruling party said it was committed to "the development of oil production" after the easing of sanctions. The most important joint ventures where Chevron is involved in Venezuela are Petroboscán, in the west of the nation, and Petropiar, in the eastern Orinoco Belt, with a production capacity of close to 180,000 barrels per day between both projects. In
6789-556: The public in general. Pumping of groundwater or petroleum has led to subsidence of as much as 9 meters (30 ft) in many locations around the world and incurring costs measured in hundreds of millions of US dollars. Land subsidence caused by groundwater withdrawal will likely increase in occurrence and related damages, primarily due to global population and economic growth, which will continue to drive higher groundwater demand. Subsidence frequently causes major problems in karst terrains, where dissolution of limestone by fluid flow in
6882-435: The reservoir with water to push petroleum to recovery wells, and thereby also reoccupying the space vacated by oil and gas – has partially mitigated the problem. Some wells have actually disappeared into craters: in 1976, a Getty Oil well blew out, and quickly collapsed into a crater over 15 feet (4.6 m) deep and 30 feet (9.1 m), taking with it the concrete pad, casing, and pumping unit. Yet another Getty well suffered
6975-525: The same fate in 1978. Drillers Martin and Dudley accidentally discovered the Lost Hills Oil Field in July 1910. They were drilling a water well for livestock grazing; instead of finding groundwater, however, they struck oil, specifically the Etchegoin Pool at a depth of 530 feet (160 m). Other drillers, encouraged by the find, including the mighty Standard Oil of California, which had recently been subject to antitrust litigation and broken up by
7068-514: The shaking of an earthquake. The Geospatial Information Authority of Japan reported immediate subsidence caused by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake . In Northern Japan, subsidence of 0.50 m (1.64 ft) was observed on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Miyako , Tōhoku , while Rikuzentakata, Iwate measured 0.84 m (2.75 ft). In the south at Sōma, Fukushima , 0.29 m (0.95 ft)
7161-620: The subsurface creates voids (i.e., caves ). If the roof of a void becomes too weak, it can collapse and the overlying rock and earth will fall into the space, causing subsidence at the surface. This type of subsidence can cause sinkholes which can be many hundreds of meters deep. Several types of sub-surface mining , and specifically methods which intentionally cause the extracted void to collapse (such as pillar extraction, longwall mining and any metalliferous mining method which uses "caving" such as "block caving" or "sub-level caving") will result in surface subsidence. Mining-induced subsidence
7254-405: The taking of preventive measures, and the carrying out of repairs post-mining. If natural gas is extracted from a natural gas field the initial pressure (up to 60 MPa (600 bar )) in the field will drop over the years. The pressure helps support the soil layers above the field. If the gas is extracted, the overburden pressure sediment compacts and may lead to earthquakes and subsidence at
7347-595: The tensile strength of the sediment. Land subsidence can lead to differential settlements in buildings and other infrastructures , causing angular distortions. When these angular distortions exceed certain values, the structures can become damaged, resulting in issues such as tilting or cracking. Land subsidence causes vertical displacements (subsidence or uplift). Although horizontal displacements also occur, they are generally less significant. The following are field methods used to measure vertical and horizontal displacements in subsiding areas: Tomás et al. conducted
7440-704: The top, the Tulare Formation , of Pleistocene age; the Etchegoin Formation , of Pliocene age; the Reef Ridge Shale, McClure Shale, and Devilwater Shale, members of the Monterey Formation , of Miocene age, which can be found in much of coastal California; and the Temblor formation , underneath the others, of Oligocene and Miocene age. A well drilled to 11,553 feet (3,521 m) by Mobil Oil Corp. in
7533-441: The very small particle size, they are affected by changes in soil moisture content. Seasonal drying of the soil results in a lowering of both the volume and the surface of the soil. If building foundations are above the level reached by seasonal drying, they move, possibly resulting in damage to the building in the form of tapering cracks. Trees and other vegetation can have a significant local effect on seasonal drying of soils. Over
7626-665: The volume of groundwater extraction , and clay content. This model assumes that changes in piezometric levels affecting aquifers and aquitards occur only in the vertical direction. It allows for subsidence calculations at a specific point using only vertical soil parameters. Quasi-three-dimensional seepage models apply Terzaghi 's one-dimensional consolidation equation to estimate subsidence, integrating some aspects of three-dimensional effects. The fully coupled three-dimensional model simulates water flow in three dimensions and calculates subsidence using Biot's three-dimensional consolidation theory. Machine learning has become
7719-523: The well has been estimated at 80 million cubic feet (2.3 million cubic metres ) per day at standard conditions . It burned for fourteen days, and continued spewing even after the fire was out; only a secondary well bore, drilled at a slant to intercept the main well, was able to plug the opening and snuff the blowout at last. 35°36′57.19″N 119°43′28.94″W / 35.6158861°N 119.7247056°W / 35.6158861; -119.7247056 Chevron Corp. Chevron Corporation
7812-399: The well, immediately exploding into flame, knocking over the massive drilling rig, destroying the trailer, and melting the nearby drilling equipment. This enormous pillar of fire, which rose to 340 feet (100 m) into the sky, could be seen more than 40 miles (64 km) away, and the quantity of oil release was estimated at 2,000 barrels (320 m ) of oil per day and gas bursting from
7905-403: The west, both of which parallel the field; Interstate 5 runs about 4 miles (6.4 km) away and Route 33 about 7 miles (11 km). The California Aqueduct runs adjacent to the field boundary on the northeast, and the town of Lost Hills is on the other side of the aqueduct along California State Route 46 , which passes through the field from east to west. The climate in the Lost Hills area
7998-701: The world's largest oil field in Saudi Arabia, Ghawar Field . California Standard's subsidiary, California-Arabian Standard Oil Company, grew over the years and became the Arabian American Oil Company (ARAMCO) in 1944. In 1973, the Saudi government began buying into ARAMCO. By 1980, the company was entirely owned by the Saudis, and in 1988, its name was changed to Saudi Arabian Oil Company— Saudi Aramco . Standard Oil of California and Gulf Oil merged in 1984, which
8091-412: The world's-largest oil companies received immense backlash for such profits. In total, Chevron made US$ 246.3 billion in revenue and $ 36.5 billion in profit within 2022, both of which are records for the company. In addition, days before the company reported its full year earnings, Chevron increased its dividend and announced a $ 75 billion stock buyback program , a move which attracted a heated response from
8184-410: Was cutting up to 7,000 jobs, or 11 percent of its workforce. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic and 2020 Russia–Saudi Arabia oil price war , Chevron announced reductions of 10–15% of its workforce. Chevron's oil and gas exploration and production operations, which in the oil and gas industry are considered as " upstream " operations, are primarily in the US, Australia, Nigeria, Angola, Kazakhstan, and
8277-469: Was introduced as a brand in the 1930s) for the first time in its logo. In July 2014, the Chevron Corporation logo design was officially changed, although it has been used since 2000. By 2015, the logo had been changed multiple times, with three different color schemes applied in the logo. The logo was gray, then blue, and then turned red before returning to the silver gray it is today. Chevron today
8370-656: Was observed. The maximum amount of subsidence was 1.2 m (3.93 ft), coupled with horizontal diastrophism of up to 5.3 m (17.3 ft) on the Oshika Peninsula in Miyagi Prefecture . Groundwater-related subsidence is the subsidence (or the sinking) of land resulting from groundwater extraction. It is a growing problem in the developing world as cities increase in population and water use, without adequate pumping regulation and enforcement. One estimate has 80% of serious land subsidence problems associated with
8463-574: Was suggested by Reuters that the sales are intended to attract smaller oil companies. Chevron, however, did not do business in the 2020s without controversy and regulatory obstacles. Chevron Phillips Chemical , a company jointly owned by Chevron and Phillips 66 , agreed to pay $ 118 million in March 2022 as a result of violating the Clean Air Act at three of its chemical production plants in Texas. According to
8556-458: Was the fourth-largest producer in the region. In February 2011, Chevron celebrated the production of its 5 billionth barrel of Permian Basin oil. The Gulf of Mexico is where the company's deepest offshore drilling takes place at Tahiti and Blind Faith. The company also explored and drilled in the Marcellus Shale formation under several northeastern US states; these operations were sold to
8649-410: Was the largest merger in history at that time. To comply with U.S. antitrust law , California Standard divested many of Gulf's operating subsidiaries, and sold some Gulf stations in the eastern United States and a Philadelphia refinery which has since closed. Among the assets sold off were Gulf's retail outlets in Gulf's home market of Pittsburgh , where Chevron lacks a retail presence but does retain
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