Beverly Hills Oil Field, Active oil field in Beverly Hills, California, US.
The Beverly Hills Oil Field is an active oil field extending four miles beneath Beverly Hills and Los Angeles, containing about 97 operating wells. The extraction takes place through drill sites strategically positioned within the urban landscape.
The field was discovered in 1900 when W.W. Orcutt drilled into the Wolfskill zone and struck oil. Since then, it has remained in continuous production, becoming one of the region's major petroleum sources.
Along Pico and Olympic Boulevards, unmarked buildings quietly house the drilling operations, keeping industrial activity hidden from the surrounding neighborhood. People living above ground rarely encounter signs of the extraction happening below.
The wells operate at depths between 1,700 and 2,200 meters in a complex geological structure beneath the city. Visitors should know that active drilling sites are not accessible to the public and operations remain hidden from street level.
The crude oil here contains high sulfur content, which complicates refining but made the location economically worthwhile despite its proximity to a major city. This geological trait shapes how the field continues to operate today.
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