Huntington Beach Oil Field

History

On May 24, 1920, the first Huntington Beach well, the Huntington A-1 33°41′01″N 118°00′34″W / 33.683522°N 118.009536°W, was brought in as a producing well. By October 1921, the field had 59 producing wells. Even with 16 of those 59 wells being idle, the field produced 16,500 barrels of oil equivalent (101,000 GJ) per day, with each well producing from 50 to 200 barrels daily.

The conflict of coastal oil drilling with beachfront recreation and tourism has been a central theme in Southern California politics. The discovery of oil was followed by a real estate boom in the surrounding communities. For example, as the Huntington Beach Oil Field expanded, the homes in that area that stood in the path of drawing oil from the ground were physically relocated north 6 miles (9.7 km) in 1921-1922 to lots in Midway City, California, which "started Midway City". In addition, the discovery led to the development of the oceanfront community of Sunset Beach, California, which was established in 1905.