Many companies operating on small production might increase the amount of production materially upon thorough analysis and knowledge of the structural conditions.

Logs of approximately 300 wells have been filed during the past year. The number of logs now on file for the district is more than double the number on file for the previous year. Out of the total number of logs listed for the county, only 65 per cent have so far been filed. This number, however, includes logs of a great many wells drilled and abandoned years ago. The logs of most of these old wells have been lost or destroyed. Graphic logs drawn number 311.

The total production of the county for the fiscal year ending July 1, 1918, amounted to 1,646,839 gross barrels of which 1,126,183 barrels was oil and 520,656 barrels was water. The proportion of water, therefore, for the county was 32 per cent. According to monthly production reports field in this office, the amount of oil produced during the fiscal year exceeded the amount of oil produced during the preceding year by about 230,000 barrels. There was also an increase in the water produced, amounting to approximately 265,000 barrels. The proportion of water produced with the oil for the county has risen from 27 per cent in 1916-1917 to 32 per cent in 1917-1918. The production per producing well per day, during the year, was 9.3 barrels of oil and 5 barrels of water, as against 7.9 barrels of oil and 3.1 barrels of water for the year previous.

Case of People of the State of California vs. Thomas A. Slocum.

During the year it became necessary to file complaint against Thomas A. Slocum, due to the failure of Slocum & Company to file logs of wells drilled on its property on Sec. 21, T. 4 N., R. 21 W., S. B. B. & M., Santa Paula Oil field, and for failure to file monthly production reports, notices of intention to drill new wells, notices of intention to abandon, redrill or deepen old wells, and for failure to notify the department for test of water shut-off before finishing and completing new wells. After repeated efforts, in writing, on the part of the state deputies to obtain the necessary information, and the entire disregard by the company of these requests, the above mentioned complaint was filed by the District Attorney of Ventura County. The defendant entered a demurrer, which was not sustained.

In the meantime, all of the desired records were prepared by the Company and submitted to this office. This department thereupon requested that the case be dismissed. This action is in line with a similar action brought against the Providential Oil Company, in District No. 1, and reported on pages 127 and 128 of the Second Annual Report (Bulletin No. 82).

Early History of Operations in Ventura County.

According to a report by Professor Silliman published in 1865, the presence of "fluid inflammable substance" was known in California as early as 1792. For many years the presence of petroleum on the surface was regarded as a detriment to the property because of the loss of live stock, which became mired in the pools of petroleum. Various reports indicate that the Indians in the region for many years used the petroleum occurring in the numerous seepages, in the same way as the Indians made use of the petroleum in the Pennsylvania oil fields previous to the development of oil. As early as 1854 there are records of the development of petroleum by Mexicans in this region. It is said that the Mexicans erected a still, with a copper worm, from which illuminating oil was made. In the year 1861, George S. Gilbert, a San Francisco man, erected a refinery for handling oil on a small scale. The refinery was built at what was afterwards known as Camp No. 1 of the California Development Company. The supply of oil came from natural wells or seepages, from which he is reported as having obtained 400 barrels of oil, without apparently diminishing the supply. The principal product of the refinery was illuminating oil. Gilbert's venture was considered a success until his plant was destroyed by fire. It was rebuilt, but a second time burned to the ground. The work was then taken up by the Philadelphia Oil Company, the Hayward Company, California Development Company, T. R. Brad, Stanford & Company, and others. In all, six camps were established by the California Development Company, located as follows:

Camp No. 1 was situated on the property of the Arnaz family, later known as the Ferguson place, in the southwest corner of the Rancho Ojai, on the old Ojai Creek Road. It was at this camp that oil operations were first started by Thomas R. Bard, upon his arrival from Pennsylvania. A house was built here for Mr. Bard, which in recent years has gone to ruin.

Camp No. 2 was situated close to the site now occupied by Camp Comfort, being about a mile south of the town of Ojai on the San Antonio Creek. Here one well was drilled on the property of P. T. Hobson.

Camp No. 3 was situated in the upper Ojai Valley.

Camp No. 4 was established on the Rancho Ojai in Pinkerton Cañon. Camp No. 5 was situated near the head of Saisar (See-saw) Creek. Camp No. 6 was near Camp No. 5. A number of wells which were drilled in this camp, and known as the "Astarta" wells, are now operated by the Pyramid Oil Company.

In a published report, made by S. F. Peckham in June, 1866, is found the statement that, during the course of ten months, 3000 bbl. of oil

had been shipped from the Ventura oil fields. The greater part of this production came from tunnels and seepages, and the operators were conservatively advised to follow this line of development, although there were a few wells producing small amounts of oil at this time.

In 1877, the Standard Oil Company was operating on the Santa Ana Rancho, in the Cañada de Los Coches, and also in Santa Paula Creek, north of Santa Paula. In the same year, Adams, Thayer and Edwards were operating five tunnels, ten wells, and several springs in Adams Cañon; and Saxby, Davis and Remington were drilling near the eastern end of Sulphur Mountain.

Acknowledgments are made to Messrs. Gidney, Brooks and Sheridan's "History of Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Ventura Counties," and to Professor Silliman's "History of Recently Discovered Regions in California," for information on this subject.

With the advent of the Hardison & Stewart Oil Company, in 1883, operations in this district received a decided impetus. The principal developments were carried on in the Rancho Ex Mission, Sespe Creek, and later in Torrey Cañon.

The combination of Hardison, Stewart and Bard interests, by which the Union Oil Company was formed, developed further interest in active drilling operations, and placed the county first in point of production in the state in the early days. The Hardison and Stewart interests which entered the Union Oil Company were the Hardison & Stewart Oil Company and the Sespe Oil Company; the Bard interests being represented by the Torrey Cañon Oil Company. The organization of the Union Oil Company took place in 1890.

Subsequent to these early developments, the attention of oil men was diverted from the Ventura oil fields; but in recent years the attention of the oil prospector has reverted to this county. During the past two years a number of discoveries have added materially to the importance of this county in respect to production of oil. Among the new discoveries may be mentioned the South Mountain field, with a daily production of 600 bbl., and the Ventura field, with a daily production of approximately 200 bbl. of oil. The latter field includes two producing areas, the first being Ventura field proper, in which the Shell Company of California, the General Petroleum Corporation and State Consolidated Oil Company are represented, and the other area being about five miles south of Ojai, in which the New Mexico Oil Company and H. L. Hayes are operating.

As contrasted with the early developments, recent developments have been undertaken upon later ideas of geologic structure. The result has been a considerable increase in the amount of production from the county.

A number of major structural features, beneath which lie

formations which are oil-bearing in other parts of the county, still remain unprospected in this field. Quite recently these have been attracting considerable interest among oil operators, and it is probable that the production for the county will be increased.

For the sake of convenience, this district has been divided, and will be considered under the following named fields: Piru, Simi, Bardsdale, Sespe, South Mountain, Santa Paula, Ojai, Ventura and Miscellaneous. Following is a table showing the number of wells listed, logs filed, graphic logs made, producing wells, average daily production of oil and water, and percentage of water, shown by fields.

Barrels water..

Barrels oil----

Abandon

TABLE II. Summary of Notices Received and Reports Issued.

Field

New wells

Notices.

PIRU FIELD..

This field includes developed and undeveloped territory lying north and south of the Santa Clara River, adjacent to the town of Piru. Records show seven producing companies in this field during the past year; three companies being located north, and four south, of the Santa Clara River.

With one exception, each operating company in this field obtains its production from separate and distinct anticlinal folds, and the underground conditions governing the accumulation of oil and water are, therefore, distinct and noncommunicating. A feature of remarkable interest, from the standpoint of geology and the influence of underground structure upon accumulation, is evident upon the property being developed by the Diamond Valley Oil Company. Upon this property a plunging anticline from a westerly direction develops into a marked overturn tranverse to the axis of the anticline. It is possible that wells drilled in this area have penetrated one stratum from two to three times.

Water Conditions.

As outlined in the Second Annual Report, Bulletin No. 82, the water conditions in several producing areas in this field are serious. One company is producing 16 bbl. of oil and 211 bbl. of water per day, or 93 per cent water. It is possible, judging from surface evidence, that a large proportion of the water produced is surface water. An attempt should be made to locate the source of the water. Reference to Table I shows that there are 82 producing wells in this field, with an average daily production of 4.6 bbl. oil and 7.7 bbl. water per well, or 62.5 per cent water for the field. A comparison with the production figures given for last year shows a decrease, for this year, in production of oil of about one barrel per day per producing well and an increase of about one barrel of water per day. The total oil produced by the field for the fiscal year was 130,103 bbl, and the total water 189,959 barrels.

Recent Developments.

As shown by Table III, ten wells were abandoned during the fiscal year, and only one new well drilled. All wells abandoned were some distance from any productive area. This shows that the attempt to increase the productive area in this field has met with failure.

One well, during the process of abandonment, developed a considerable increase in oil, after ripping and endeavoring to remove the oil string, showing that oil had been encountered in an upper horizon and