Proven and unproven oil and gas fields in the Santa Maria and Santa Barbara-Ventura basins offshore California, where 24 OCS fields (chart; yellow areas in federal waters) have been discovered but remain undeveloped due to federal and state drilling restrictions. Limited published data indicate that at least five prospects entirely in state waters remain unevaluated (yellow areas in state waters). The total reserve potential of all undeveloped fields and prospects may range from 1.5-3.4 billion BOE. The graph below, right, shows a linear regression analysis of the ultimate reserves in seven offshore fields producing mainly from the Monterey Formation, and the closure areas of the fields.

Graphics, data courtesy of Tom Bjorklund, Search and Discovery

DOWNLOAD ENTIRE IMAGE