Rincon Oil Field

The Rincon Oil Field is a large oil field on the coast of southern California, about 10 miles (16 km) northwest of the city of Ventura, and about 20 miles (32 km) east-southeast of the city of Santa Barbara. It is the westernmost onshore field in a series of three fields which follow the Ventura Anticline, an east–west trending feature paralleling the Transverse Ranges. Discovered in 1927, the oil field ranks 36th in California by the size of its recoverable oil reserves. Although mostly depleted—retaining only about 2.5% of its original oil according to the California Department of Conservation—it remained productive, with 77 wells active as of early 2008. Oil produced in the field flows through the M-143 pipeline, which parallels U.S. Highway 101 southeast to the Ventura Pump Station, at which point it joins a Tosco pipeline which carries it to Los Angeles area refineries. As of 2009, the primary operators of the field were Occidental Petroleum for the onshore portion, and Greka Energy for the offshore portion. The offshore part of the field is operated mainly from Rincon Island.