Don Weir left Kansas during the Depression in the 1930s, went to Bakersfield and to Long Beach and served in the Army. When he got to Huntington Beach, "it was (oil) rig after rig after rig. Used to be all along the coast and on the bluffs above the beach. Now it's down to a handful of wells."
"The oil industry, it's been good to me. Through the years it's treated me good." But now he's getting ready to quit. "I'm not gonna fight it."
Independent oil men like Weir have a lot of concerns these days: environmental demands, local and federal taxes, the low price of oil, pressure from local developers to sell the wells, even encouragement from their children or grandchildren to ease their hold on their life's work.
Marshall Tinsley, who says he's been an oil man 90% of his life but no longer owns any wells, agreed with Weir. "Oil in California is on its way out," he said. "Land is more valuable than natural resources."
Since March 24, 1920, when oil was first discovered at the intersection of Clay Avenue and Golden West Street, the specter of rigs bobbing against the coastal sky has been a signature of Huntington Beach.
After World War II, when land was cheap and oil was expensive, people would buy a lot in Huntington Beach and drill for oil along with the major companies. As recently as five years ago there were still 400 "independents" operating back-yard wells.
Now there are 54.
"There aren't too many of us left," Weir said. The operators have "all died or got out."
Jack Teberg, president of the Independent Oil Producers Assn. in Huntington Beach, agrees. "We've lost more than half the independent oil producers. Government agencies are putting them out of business," he said.
Overall, the number of functioning oil wells in Huntington Beach has shown a drastic decrease. In the downtown area, where there used to be 200 to 300 wells run by independents, there are now 57.
And the trend toward abandonment of wells is not limited to the small producers. Where as many as five major oil companies used to operate in Huntington Beach, only Shell Offshore Drilling and Union 76 remain, said Oil Inspector Mark Bodenbender of the Huntington Beach Fire Department petrochemical division. A third major, Chevron, is in the process of abandoning wells.
Said Dennis Groat, a spokesman for the department: Oil drilling "used to be a little simpler. Find it, pump it, sell it."
