Brief History of Oil Development in the Tunnel Area

Map of the new Tunnel Area Oil Field from 1904 (Production and Use of Petroleum in California, Bulletin 32, Lewis E. Aubury, 1904)

Map of Tunnel Area Oil Field from 1924 (Geology and Oil Resources of a Part of Los Angeles and Ventura Counties, California, Bulletin 753, W.S.W. Kew, 1924)

Kew's description from Bulletin 753, p. 153, 1924.

Map of Tunnel Area from 1934 (Report on Newhall Oil Field, R.W. Walling, Summary of Operations, California Oil Fields, Vol. 20, No. 2, 1934)

Portion of DOGGR Map 254 (from 2002) showing almost all of the Tunnel area wells

Most of the oil production in the Tunnel area has been obtained from the Pico formation and from the upper portion of the Mint Canyon formation. There is also a north-south running fault mapped here. The first wells were drilled in 1900 and the last oil well was drilled in 1979. There was a water injection well drilled in 1981. Most of the early wells changed ownership many times. Many of the Needham wells had the same well number. For example, Needham 1 was used 5 times, but with different drillers.

The first wells in the Tunnel area were drilled by the Zenith Oil Company in 1900. According to the LA Herald of 12-4-1900, they leased the H. Clay Needham homestead of 86 acres. Prutzman (Bulletin 63, 1913) reports that this company had four abandoned and four producing wells in the canyon of Newhall Creek and immediately at the foot of Elsmere Ridge. The first three were drilled in 1900 and two of those had been abandoned by 1903. He then describes wells 1 through 5, even though he said that 8 wells were drilled. Therefore, three wells are not numbered and are not shown in the below table.

The Safe Oil Company drilled one well in 1900-1901, but abandoned it after reaching about 1000 feet.

The Commercial Oil Company drilled its wells 1 and 2 in 1901 east of the Zenith wells. In 1901, the Eureka Crude Oil Company drilled two wells on the east side of Newhall Creek just south of the Commercial wells.

In 1901, the Pearl Oil Company drilled a well about 100 feet south of Zenith 1 and a second one 300 feet south of Zenith 1. These wells are on an 80-acre tract owned by H. Clay Needham. In 1903, Pearl drilled well number 3 about 600 feet west of Zenith 1. Henry Clay Needham formed this company, was the president and one of the drillers. The company was named after one of his daughters. Here is a stock certificate for the company from the Santa Clarita Valley History in Pictures website.

In 1907, E.A. Clampitt acquired the wells of the Pearl, and Zenith Oil Companies and E.A. and D.L. Clampitt acquired the wells of the Eureka Crude and Commercial Oil Companies. They drilled Commercial 3 and 4 in 1907 and did some work on the Commercial 1 and 2 wells.

The Squaw Flat Oil Company well was drilled in 1911 (reported in Bulletin 63 - "Petroleum in California" by Prutzman) on the old Ives Claim. The Squaw Flat Oil Company was incorporated in 1910 (reported by the LA Herald of 8/9/1910). The directors were A.J. Aber, B.M. Howe, and A.W. Hookway, with capital stock of $200,000. Squaw Flat is a meadow 12 miles northeast of Fillmore, California, in the Piru Mountains. When promising oil deposits were found in the meadow, various companies, including the newly formed Squaw Flat Oil Company, drilled exporatory wells. The well in the tunnel area was bought by E.A. Clampitt in 1912. After plugging with cement from 1150 to 700 feet to exclude water, the well produced until 1916 when the rig burned down in a forest fire and was never placed. It was reworked in the 1940's.

The Crawford Syndicated Oil Company drilled three wells in 1922 and 1924. McCoy and Anderson drilled one well in 1927.

The period of development from 1929 - 1932 saw the introduction of the rotary drilling method in place of the cable-tool method. Southern California Drilling Company and York Oil Company drilled ten wells during these years.

The Needham 4 well, though not successfully completed, was drilled by the Southern California Drilling Company into the Mint Canyon formation and the Eocene formation on its way to a depth of 3504 feet. The Pico-Mint Canyon contact was found at 1780 feet and the Mint Canyon-Eocene contact was found at 2747 feet. No indication of oil in commercial quantities was found below 2150 feet.

The early 1950's were a boom-time for the Tunnel area. At least 26 wells were drilled from 1951 - 1954, with twelve in 1953 alone. The Morton-Dolley partnership drilled about 21 of these wells.

Harold C. Morton (1895-1978) was in the oil business by 1928. He is first listed in the Directory of California Oil and Gas Operaters in the California Oil Fields Statement Of Operations published for that year. Chester F. Dolley (1901-1988) was first listed in the directory in 1937. The 1942 directory showed the partnership of Morton & Dolley for the first time. The Los Angeles Bar Bulletin (vol. 35) states that in 1933, Morton and Dolley formed the Atlantic Oil Company. Dolley was still president of that company in 1991. They also both worked in the law firm of Hanna and Morton. Morton joined the firm of Fredericks and Hanna in 1928 and, by 1932, the firm became Hanna and Morton. It became a premier oil and gas law firm, while continuing as a trial and appellate firm. The partnership of Morton & Dolley was still listed in the 1964 directory, the last one published by the DOG.

In 1981, the Newhall Refining Company received permission to drill a well for the sole purpose of injecting refinery waste water into the sands of the Mint Canyon formation (middle Miocene). The well (Newhall 1) was drilled to 3237 feet and was located between Sierra Highway and Beale's cut, on the Sierra Highway side of the ridge between them. You can still see a steep road going up the side of the canyon to the site. Their water injection pressures exceeded the allowable limits and their permit was rescinded in 1982. A month after the permit was rescinded, they were observed discharging waste water in the small dry creek next to Sierra Highway. A sample was taken and analyzed. Tests showed high concentrations of chlorides and dissolved solids. A complaint was filed with the Los Angeles County District Attorney. The final outcome of the complaint is not shown in DOG records, but in 1983, the Newhall Refining Company filed a rework well notice with the DOG and reinstated their permit, under many conditions. They could not get the well to meet all the conditions, so the well was finally plugged and abandoned in 1986.

The best year for the Tunnel area was 1953 when production was 113,190 barrels of oil, the best one year of any field in the Newhall Oil District.

Table of wells drilled in the Tunnel Area