Discovering the hidden oil fields of La Honda

Not many people know that there are oil fields just a few miles away from La Honda. As you can see from the map, the oil wells are located on either side of Highway 84 between Redwood Terrace and San Gregorio.

The oil fields are divided into a main area and a South area that comprise 135 acres with 23 wells as of 1981. There was a small amount of production from this area in the 1920’s, and then in May 1956, interest in extracting oil from this area was renewed. The first well in 1956 was a dry one drilled by the Neaves Petroleum Developments. In October of the same year another well was drilled that produced about 75 barrels a day of oil. From then up until 1981, 783,124 barrels of oil and 104,519 Mcf of natural gas was extracted from this area. Estimated reserves in 1981 were 120,000 barrels of oil and 31 million cubic feet of gas.

In July 1959, The South oil field was discovered. The first well yielded 25 barrels of oil per day. From then up until 1981, 478,023 barrels of oil and 38,831 Mcf of gas were extracted from this Southern area.

The source rocks for this oil are from the Miocene age. Other nearby oil exists in isolated areas near Point Reyes, Half Moon Bay and Davenport. Some of this oil may have been contiguous at one point but may have been moved along with the San Gregorio and northern San Andreas faults.

These wells are on private property, so they are not assessable to the public without special permission according to Ruth Waldhauer, a Director at the South Skyline Association, who recently sponsored a lecture entitled "Oil Bearing Rocks in the Santa Cruz Mountains." However, Ruth added that there is at least one location where this natural oil can be seen by the public. There is a public parking lot just before the La Honda Honor Camp. If you follow the Tar Water Creek trail from this parking lot, natural tar is sometimes visible near where the trail crosses the creek. Ruth said that she has seen the carcasses of jays in this sticky tar creating a miniature version of the La Brea Tar Pits. Indeed, the USGS shows a photo of Tar Water Creek on a website with a note that, "Natural oil seeps like this one, at Tar Water Creek in the Santa Cruz Mountains, can degrade water quality and endanger wildlife" (http://seeps.wr.usgs.gov/seeps/environment.html). Ruth added that this tar is easier to find during the summer, since the rains wash a lot of it away during the winter.

A potential concern concludes the 1981 California Division of Oil Report, "Additional development could occur in La Honda oil field. In the Main Area, production from the shallow Burns sand may be commercial under today’s decontrolled oil prices. In the South area, all three pools may have the potential for some additional development. In both areas, there could be room for some offset and infield development wells, some of which may be placed upstructure from existing producing wells."

Hopefully, a long time will pass before we have to worry about oil derricks in our backyards.

Robert J. Dougherty is the editor of the La Honda Voice, from which this story is reprinted.