California oil and gas industry

The California oil and gas industry has been a major economic and cultural component of the US state of California for over a century. Oil production was a minor factor in the 19th century, with kerosene replacing whale oil and lubricants becoming essential to the machine age. Oil became a major California industry in the 20th century with the discovery of new fields around Los Angeles and the San Joaquin Valley, and the dramatic increase in demand for gasoline to fuel automobiles and trucks. In 1900 California pumped 4 million barrels (640,000 m3), nearly 5% of the national supply. Then came a series of major discoveries, and the state pumped 100 million bbl (16 million m3) in 1914, or 38% of the national supply. In 2012 California produced 197 million bbl (31 million m3) of crude oil, out of the total 2,375 million bbl (378 million m3) of oil produced in the US, representing 8.3% of national production. California drilling operations and oil production are concentrated primarily in Kern County, San Joaquin Valley and the Los Angeles Basin.

There is also some offshore oil and gas production in California, but there is now a permanent moratorium on new offshore oil and gas leasing and new oil platforms in both California and federal waters, although new wells can be drilled from existing platforms. These restrictions were imposed after the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill released oil into the Pacific Ocean. As of 2022, California produced less than 25 percent of the crude oil used statewide, and the majority of its crude oil was imported from Ecuador, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Colombia.