Inglewood Oil Field: Background
The Inglewood Oil Field (IOF) is located within Culver City and the unincorporated area of Los Angeles County (“County”) known as Baldwin Hills. The entire surface boundary limits of the IOF, including lands within both the City and County, totaled approximately 1,000 acres as of 2008. The portion of the IOF that is solely within the limits of Culver City (“City IOF”) totals 77.8-acres. (Surface boundary limit refers to the physical extent of the ground surface for which the Oil Field Operator has access and land owner permission to establish and conduct oil drilling activity. Subsurface and mineral right limits may have different boundaries than the surface boundary.)
The IOF has had several Oil Field Operators since its origination in the 1920’s. Most recently, in 2014 Freeport McMoRan Oil and Gas (FMOG) became the Oil Field Operator for the oil and gas facilities throughout the entire IOF after purchasing the rights from Plains Exploration and Production Company (PXP). In July, 2016, FMOG sold its onshore California oil and gas properties (including the IOF) to Sentinel Peak Resources California LLC (SPR). SPR assumed operation of the IOF, including the City IOF, as of January 1, 2017.
Following a series of accidental gas release and odor events in late 2005 and early 2006, community and City interest in the IOF activities peaked and the County initiated the process of establishing regulations for oil and gas production activities within the unincorporated County portion of the IOF (the “County IOF”). In October 2008, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors adopted the Baldwin Hills Community Standards District (County CSD), which established the oil and gas regulations, and related Environmental Impact Report (CSD EIR). The County CSD regulations were supplemented through a Settlement Agreement resulting from subsequent litigation, challenging the adequacy of the CSD EIR under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), and only are applicable to the County IOF.
The CSD and the Settlement Agreement can be viewed on the County’s web site.