--> ABSTRACT: The Long Beach Field, Los Angeles Basin: History, Insights from Technology Applications, and New Opportunities from Modern Approaches, by Higley, Richard T.; Dalkey, Barry ; Vasquez, Elizabeth; Hollis, Dan; #90142 (2012)

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The Long Beach Field, Los Angeles Basin: History, Insights from Technology Applications, and New Opportunities from Modern Approaches

Higley, Richard T.*1; Dalkey, Barry 1; Vasquez, Elizabeth 1; Hollis, Dan 2
(1) Signal Hill Petroleum, Inc., Signal Hill, CA.
(2) NodalSeismic, LLC, Signal Hill, CA.

The Long Beach Field (LBF), originally discovered in 1921 by Shell's Alamitos #1 well, is the eighth largest in California by cumulative production. The field also holds the record for the most oil produced per unit area. Within the field’s current 1,725 acres, approximately 1,500 wells have been drilled since the field's discovery, to a maximum depth of ~15,000 feet into Catalina Schist (basement). Oil averages ~23° API, with some variability observed. The LBF sits within the SW Los Angeles Basin, and produces primarily from Late Miocene- to Pliocene-age Puente and Repetto Formations, respectively. The structural trap that forms the field is an elongate WNW-ESE-trending anticline, expressed at the surface as Signal Hill, along the Cherry Hill fault segment of the Newport-Inglewood fault zone (NIFZ). Complex structuration is observed, given the transpressional deformation prevalent at a restraining stepover in the NIFZ.

The modern LBF exists in a highly urbanized environment, where ~200 active wells are on production. Wells and drilling sites coexist with residential and commercial real estate, and sustainable development is critical to continued development of the field. After facing challenges acquiring conventional, wired 3D seismic in 2006, the first modern 3D seismic acquisition was undertaken over the field and its surrounding areas in 2011 using a low-impact, cable-free nodal seismic system and vibroseis sources. The Long Beach 3D is the first of its kind over the NIFZ and provides insight into the deformation within and evolution of the fault zone. It also helps delineate deep structure, compartmentalization, and unswept blocks within the field. In addition, due to the continuous recording inherent in the nodal seismic acquisition process, several small (Mw < 3.0) earthquakes were detected by the survey, and these data are being utilized in studies to help understand earthquake wave propagation through and along the NIFZ.

Using a petroleum system-based approach, the LBF has been placed in geological context within the evolution of the Los Angeles Basin. This has yielded additional exploration opportunities, and in conjunction with the 3D seismic, modern logs from new wells, and core analysis, new deep targets within the field area. As a result of integrated geological, geophysical, and engineering evaluation, continued water injection, investment well work, sidetrack wells, and new drilling targets have served to increase field production.

 

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90142 © 2012 AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition, April 22-25, 2012, Long Beach, California