Lakeview Gusher Number One
The Lakeview gusher with a lake of crude oil surrounding the derrick, mid-1910
LocationKern County, California
Coordinates35°05′29″N 119°24′05″W / 35.09139°N 119.40139°W / 35.09139; -119.40139
Date15 March 1910 – September 1911
Cause
CauseWellhead blowout
OperatorLakeview Oil Company
Spill characteristics
Volume9 million barrels (1.4×10^6 m3)
Reference no.485

The Lakeview Gusher was an eruption of hydrocarbons from a pressurized oil well in the Midway-Sunset Oil Field in Kern County, California, in 1910. It created the largest accidental oil spill in history, lasting 18 months and releasing an estimated 9 million barrels (1.4×10^6 m3) of crude oil.[1]

Midway-Sunset was one of the largest oil reserves in the United States. When drilling commenced, the Lakeview Oil Company expected natural gas and a small amount of oil. Instead, there was a large blowout which overloaded storage tanks.[2]

The geyser released more than 1.2 million short tons (1,100,000 t) of crude oil, far more than any other single leak on land or water. Its site is located about a half-mile (800 m) east of the Taft–Maricopa Highway, California Route 33, marked by a Caltrans guide sign and a bronze plaque designated as California Historical Landmark number 485.[3]

Background

The Lakeview Oil Company, organized by Julius Fried, R.D. Wade, F.E. Dunlap, and Charles F. Off started drilling at its Number One well on 1 January 1909. According to legend, Fried had picked the spot because of an assumption that clumps of red grass indicated good oil land.[4] Initially only natural gas was found. As work continued the company exhausted funds and partnered with the Union Oil Company, which wanted to build storage tanks there.[5]

Early twentieth-century drilling technology lacked such modern safety features as blowout preventers. When drilling reached a well depth of 2,440 ft (740 m) on 15 March 1910,[6] pressurized oil blew through the well casing above the bit.[7] An estimated 9 million barrels (1.4×10^6 m3) escaped before the gusher was brought under control in September 1911.[8]

The initial daily flow was 18,800 barrels (2,990 m3), creating a river of crude that crews rushed to contain with improvised sand bag dams and dikes. Peak flow reached 90,000 barrels (14,000 m3) per day, diverted via a pipeline to storage tanks 2.5 miles (4.0 km) away, where an 8-inch (200 mm) line led to Port Avila on the coast.[2] In total, 378 million gallons of oil was released, and about 40% was captured. This surplus dropped the price to 30 cents a barrel, about half of what it was before. No fire or dangerous flooding resulted from this spill.[2]

California Historical Landmark

The California Historical Landmark plaque reads:

NO. 485 LAKEVIEW GUSHER 1 - America's most spectacular gusher blew in here on March 14, 1910. Initially 18,000 barrels per day, the flow later reached an uncontrolled peak of 100,000 barrels per day, completely destroying the derrick. This Union Oil Company well produced nine million barrels of oil in 18 months. Marker date of registration August 7, 1951.[9][10]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Harvey, Steve (13 June 2010). "California's legendary oil spill". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 14 July 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 "The Lakeview Gusher". San Joaquin Geological Society. 23 September 2002. Archived from the original on 19 October 2006. Retrieved 11 June 2010.
  3. ↑ "Lakeview Gusher". Office of Historic Preservation, California State Parks. Retrieved 2012-10-07.
  4. ↑ "Julius Fried, Native and Oil Pioneer, Dies". No. 8. Healdsburg Tribune, Enterprise and Scimitar. November 6, 1958.
  5. ↑ Bailey, Richard C. (1967). Kern County Place Names. Bakersfield: Merchant's Printing and Lithography Co. OCLC 158106.
  6. ↑ Rintoul, William (1976). Spudding In: Recollections of Pioneer Days in the California Oil Fields. San Francisco: California Historical Society. pp. 106–113. ISBN 978-0-910312-37-0.
  7. ↑ "OIL GUSHER". Evening Journal. Vol. XLIV, no. 12252. South Australia. 16 July 1910. p. 5 (LATE EDITION). Retrieved 27 December 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ↑ Rintoul, William; Hodgson, Susan F. (1990). Drilling through time: 75 years with California's Division of Oil and Gas. Sacramento: California Department of Conservation, Division of Oil and Gas. pp. 13–15. ISBN 978-0-9627124-0-1.
  9. ↑ [californiahistoricallandmarks.com Landmark chl-485]
  10. ↑ Cal California parks Historical Landmarks
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