Oxy optimistic about reviving Buena Vista field

Occidental of Elk Hills and a contractor, PGS Onshore, are conducting a seismic survey that is bringing short-term benefits to the Taft economy and could lead to the revival of an old oilfield.

Oxy’s Buena Vista 3-D project was outlined for the Taft City Council by   Oxy and PGS officials Tuesday night and again to the Taft Rotary Club on Wednesday.

It’s a massive, multimillion-dollar project that started in the spring and won’t be finished until the end of the year.

It will cover 200 square miles from near McKittrick to the Buena Vista Lake bed.
But when it is done, it will give Oxy and unprecedented view of the geologic structures in the Buena Vista field.

Oxy owns most of the highly profitable Elk Hills field and in recent years has been purchasing land and drilling rights in the Buena Vista field, which sits between Elk Hills and the sprawling Midway Sunset Field.


It runs in an arc north of Taft from the east end of Honolulu Hills westward to a point near Derby Acres.

Oxy’s team is confident that the seismic study will bring the Buena Vista to the forefront of production again.

“We will be able to bring new life to an old oilfield,” said Cynthia Walker, chief geophysicist for Oxy and project manager for the Buena Vista 3-D project. “That’s what happened at Elk Hills and we fully expect that to happen at Buena Vista.”

More production from the Buena Vista Field would not only be profitable for Oxy but have a major impact on the local economy too, producing more oilfield jobs.

Increased drilling and production will lead to “sustained employment in the oilfield service industries,” Walker said.

A previous study, conducted with less advanced technology, was a success at Elk Hills.
“We’re still drilling wells off that project,” Walker said.

 Oxy made “tens to hundreds of millions of dollars” off that study, according to Walker.
Using seismic studies to locate oil-bearing formations takes a lot of guesswork out of the expensive process of drilling, she said.

“Oxy wouldn’t dream of drilling a well without a seismic study,” she said.
Seismic studies have been done in the area before, but none with the technology being used now, said Walker and Mike Hancock of PGS Onshore.

It will give Oxy geologists and engineers an unprecedented three-dimensional view of subsurface geology to depths up to 15,000 feet.

PGS Onshore crews have been in Taft since this spring and have spent an estimated $156,000 in the community.

Before its all over, about $2 million will be pumped into the community by PGS and its subcontractors.

Hancock said there will be 75 to 100 people living and working in the community for six to eight months at a time.

“We’ve filled up most of the motels,” he said.

The seismic “thumper” trucks will be in Taft in late September or October. The trucks send vibrations through the earth that are picked up by geophones placed on the surface.

That seismic date is compiled and turned into a three-dimensional view of the underground.

Hancock and Walker said it has been a complex process to meet all regulatory requirements, environmental restraints and get permission from landowners to conduct the study.

PGS has 20 biologists and archeologists working on the project to ensure compliance with environmental regulations.

Workers have found that the endangered blunt-nosed leopard lizard isn’t too rare where they are working.

“We’ve encountered thousands of them.” Walker said. “They may be endangered in the state but they are healthy and alive here.”