SALT    LAKE    OIL    FIELD,    LOS    ANGELES,    CAL.  361 
base  of  the  Santa  Monica  Range.  Within  this  northern  extension  the  beds  in  general  dip 
to  the  west,  and  for  this  reason  the  most  productive  area  will  doubtless  be  found  wesl  of 
La  Brea  road.  East  of  this  road  the  oil  sands  approach  the  surface  and  consequently  \  ield 
smaller  quantities  and  heavier  oil  than  do  the  same  beds  farther  down  I  lie  dip.  As  shown 
by  several  wells  drilled  in  (he  region  southeast  of  the  Sal;  Lake  flexure,  (his  territory  does 
not  appear  to  offer  many  inducements  for  exploitation,  at  least  in  the  immediate  vicini.  \  of 
the  Salt  Lake  field.  Farther  east,  however,  in  the  region  west  and  southwest  of  Wes'Jake 
Park,  in  case  deep  wells  strike  a  local  flexure  similar  to  that  in  the  Salt  Lake  field,  such  wells 
should  yield  large  quantities  of  oil  and  gas.  If  the  disturbance  or  fracture  before  men;  ioned 
as  occurring  in  the  vicinity  of  the  lagoon  does  not  have  a  northwestern  extension,  terminating 
the  Salt  Lake  flexure  and  the  productive  zone  on  its  northwest  flank,  then  ii  appears  highly 
probable  that  deep  wells  will  strike  productive  sand  in  the  southern  part  of  sec.  20  and  the 
northern  parts  of  sees.  29  and  30,  T.  1  S.,  R.  14  W. 
Development. — There  are  at  the  present  time  between  75  and  80  productive  or  drilling 
wells  in  the  Salt  Lake  field,  belonging  to  the  following  companies:  Salt  Lake  Oil  Company, 
about  50  or  55;  Arcturus  Oil  Company,  9;  Utah  Oil  Company,  1  (these  three  companies 
controlled  by  the  Associated  Oil  Company);  A.  F.  Gilmore,  4;  Pacific  Light  and  Power 
Company,  4;  E.  P.  Clark  Oil  Company,  7.  In  addition  to  the  wells  mentioned  above  there 
are  several  comparatively  shallow  small  producers,  belonging  to  the  last -named  company. 
These  are  located  near  the  northern  half  of  the  line  separating  sees.  28  and  .30  and  are 
pumped  intermittently.  The  wells  northwest  of  the  Salt  Lake  flexure  vary  from  1,200  to 
over  3,100  feet  in  depth.  The  deeper  wells  are  as  a  rule  the  more  productive  and  yield  the 
lighter  oil.  The  individual  wells  produce  from  20  to  over  1,000  barrels  a  day,  the  average 
being  somewhere  in  the  neighborhood  of  200  barrels.  Owing  to  the  tremendous  gas  pressure 
in  this  field,  nearly  all  the  wells  "gush  "  when  they  first  come  in,  and  it  is  said  that  one  of  the 
deep  wells  produced  about  18,000  barrels  a  day  for  a  short  time  after  its  inception.  The 
gravity  of  the  oil  varies  from  11°  to  22°,  the  heaviest  oil  coming,  it  is  said,  from  an  isolated 
sand  below  the  regular  productive  zone.     The  average  for  the  field  is  between  16°  and  18°. 
Production,  storage  facilities,  ami  transportation. — The  production  of  the  Salt  Lake  field 
has  risen  from  a  few  thousand  barrels  in  1902  to  something  over  2,000,000  barrels  in  1905. 
Facilities  for  handling  and  storing  the  oil  have  kept  pace  with  the  increase  in  production 
until  at  the  present  time  the  storage  capacity  of  the  field  is  about  3C0,000  barrels,  20,000- 
barrel  to  55,000-barrel  steel  tanks  being  largely  used.  An  8-inch  pipe  line  connects  the 
field  directly  with  Los  Angeles,  and  smaller  lines  run  from  some  of  the  properties  to  tanks 
and  racks  on  the  line  of  the  Los  Angeles  Pacific  Electric  Railroad,  immediately  south  of  the 
field.  The  oil  is  used  principally  in  supplying  the  local  Los  Angeles  market,  although  <  on- 
siderable  quantifies  are  said  to  be  shipped  to  outside  points. 
The  large  quantities  of  gas  which  come  from  the  wells  are  used  mainly  for  the  general  ion 
of  power  for  operating  and  development,  although  a  small  amount  is  used  in  the  field  for 
domestic  purposes. 
