Oil Exploration

Re "Hands off ANWR," Opinion, May 6 Bill Stall inflates his figures in support of his speciousness. Had America been allowed to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge several years ago, the ANWR oil would be in today's market, not some years hence. ANWR would be a bountiful, secure domestic oil source and would have created useful employment. Further, every ANWR oil dollar spent would be one less sent overseas to the likes of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Saudi Arabia.

The National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska just isn't what it used to be - or rather, what we thought it was. Until about two years ago, the 23-million-acre spread of land was thought to hold a treasure-trove of 10.6 billion barrels of black gold. Then research by the U.S. Geological Survey brought the figure way down, to less than a tenth of that amount. Yet the reserve is rich in other features, among them wildlife and the fragile ecosystems in which it lives. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar wisely recognized both kinds of resources in drafting the first comprehensive plan for the reserve.

Your editorial (Dec. 15), "Oil Patch Asks for Help," accurately points out that America's increasing reliance on imported oil invites future energy shocks that could severely jolt our nation. This danger should be of special concern to Californians because the state imports a considerable amount of its oil and because future energy crises almost certainly would devastate key California industries such as travel and tourism. However, I want to clarify one point: the Reagan Administration is aware of the issue.

Texas oil giant Tesoro Corp. said it will spend $2.5 billion to buy a sprawling refinery in Carson and other assets -- including the Arco brand -- from rival BP. The move would leave most of California's gasoline production in the hands of just two companies: Tesoro and Chevron Corp. The deal would greatly boost Tesoro's presence in the region. The San Antonio company already has agreements with more than 1,200 stations nationwide that sell its gas under the Shell, USA Gasoline and Tesoro brands.

It almost seemed as though oil drilling rigs were ready to tap into Los Angeles' first petroleum field again. But the workers setting up a pair of derricks south of Echo Park last week were plugging some of the city's oldest wells — not drilling new ones. The sealing of the long-abandoned wells by Allenco Energy to make way for a 45-unit affordable housing project marks the end of an era for the Los Angeles City Oil Field, which sparked Southern California's oil boom 120 years ago. The city's first commercially successful oil well was drilled about 350 feet away, at the corner of Glendale Boulevard and Rockwood Street.

Legislation to permanently bar oil exploration in Alaska's Arctic coastal plain was introduced in the House and Senate on Thursday. Sen. William V. Roth Jr. (R-Del.) and Rep. Bruce F. Vento (D-Minn.) offered bills to have 1.5 million acres of coastal plain designated as wilderness area, barring development. A 1980 bill set aside 19 million acres in Alaska as a national wildlife refuge and designated wilderness area but omitted the 1.5 million acres of coastal plain.

Most of the cuts being made by British Petroleum will be in its North Sea operations. BP Exploration Chief Executive Basil Butler said exploration spending would be cut during the current year to $661 million from a planned figure of about $911 million.

The Los Angeles-based oil company cited a "promising discovery" in the jungles of Ecuador for the speedup. As reported last January, Occidental Petroleum and CEPE, Ecuador's state oil company, executed an exploration and oil services contract under which Occidental operates a 494,000-acre block in Ecuador's eastern jungle for CEPE.

Occidental Petroleum Corp., the 13th-largest oil company in the U.S., on Monday slashed its spending on exploration and production of oil and natural gas by 63% to cope with low energy prices. Los Angeles-based Occidental, with 1997 revenue of about $8 billion, reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission this month that it's facing a cash shortfall for 1998 that may force it to sell assets, restructure debt and cut spending. Occidental reports fourth-quarter earnings today.

Exxon Mobil Corp.andOccidental Petroleum Corp.said second-quarter earnings took a hit from lower oil and natural gas prices, a pattern that analysts expect to be repeated throughout the energy industry. But in an economy that is struggling to gain momentum, the oil business is still posting numbers that many others would love to have. Exxon Mobil, in fact, reported record profits, but it needed the help of asset sales to do it. Analysts said the stage for this week's earnings reports was set when oil declined nearly 9% and natural gas plunged 46% during the quarter compared with year-earlier prices.

Ratings gold for 'Dallas' TNT's reboot of the "Dallas" has struck oil. Its Wednesday premiere drew 6.8 million viewers, making it the No. 1 scripted series premiere on all of cable so far this year. The rebirth of the classic CBS series, which stars veterans Larry Hagman and Linda Gray reprising their roles as JR and Sue Ellen Ewing, even outdid the broadcast networks during its 9-11 p.m. showing. But considering the numbers the soap generated during its original run, its Wednesday showing was extremely undersized.

Japan tourism: An article in the March 8 Business section about the rebound of Japan's tourism industry said that Japan's Tourism Agency sought to boost tourism by giving away free airfare to 10,000 visitors to the country. In fact, Japan's government has rejected funding the free airfare and the promotion has been scrapped. Arctic drilling: An article in the March 4 Section A about oil exploration off the Alaska coast said that Shell's drilling program would eventually add 500,000 gallons a day of oil to the Trans-Alaska pipeline.

Occidental Petroleum Corp. kicked off the oil industry's fourth-quarter earnings results Wednesday. It  announced a net profit increase of 35% to $1.63 billion compared to the same quarter a year ago as the company rode the crest of a high oil-price wave and record U.S. crude production levels. Westwood-based Occidental is the nation's fourth largest oil exploration and production company. It has a reputation among analysts as being one of the industry's best managed firms. In 2011, Occidental and the rest of the oil industry enjoyed the highest average oil prices ever, but analysts said the company is built to maximize earnings even when oil prices are low. "In our view," said Phil Weiss, an oil industry analyst with Argus Research, "Occidental's low cost structure and use of enhanced oil-recovery techniques to increase production and build reserves will enable it to maintain strong cash flow and profitability in almost any price environment.

It almost seemed as though oil drilling rigs were ready to tap into Los Angeles' first petroleum field again. But the workers setting up a pair of derricks south of Echo Park last week were plugging some of the city's oldest wells — not drilling new ones. The sealing of the long-abandoned wells by Allenco Energy to make way for a 45-unit affordable housing project marks the end of an era for the Los Angeles City Oil Field, which sparked Southern California's oil boom 120 years ago. The city's first commercially successful oil well was drilled about 350 feet away, at the corner of Glendale Boulevard and Rockwood Street.

Thursday's night's Green Bay Packers victory over the New Orleans Saints delivered reliably huge ratings for NBC but fell just shy of last year's NFL season kickoff. Nielsen reported Friday that the game averaged 27.2 million viewers, compared with the record 27.5 million who tuned in for last year's opener between the Saints and the Minnesota Vikings. Besides being the second-most-watched "NFL Kickoff" ever, NBC said Thursday's down-to-the-wire contest was the second-most-watched regular-season prime-time game ever on the network.

Right about now in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, dozens of pregnant female polar bears are preparing to give birth in dens they dug into the snowdrifts last month, unaware that the fate of their home, and possibly their species, hinges on the price of gasoline. The Obama administration can and should change that. Big Oil and its congressional allies have been mounting attempts to open the refuge to oil and gas development since the 1970s. There is no immediate danger that they'll succeed.

It is August when spacious skies soar above amber waves of grain in fields stretching from sea to shining sea. It is the month of the fruited plains and purple mountain majesties that inspired Katharine Lee Bates to write her anthem, "America the Beautiful," and that lured the masses west for a better life. Jonathan Bixby from Maine was one of those folks, and he hit it big. In 1881 he picked up 26,000 acres in what is today Long Beach. The property was Rancho Los Alamitos, part of a Spanish land grant earned by an intrepid soldier who marched north from Mexico in the 1760s.