Water, Oil Problems Take Toll in Ventura : Texaco: The company plans to move 145 jobs to Denver because it has nearly exhausted the potential for new wells.

Texaco Inc. began steps Friday to shift control of its Ventura oil producing division to its Denver office, a consolidation that will move 145 jobs out of the area.

Texaco decided to merge its Ventura and Denver offices because it has nearly exhausted the potential for drilling new oil and gas wells on land in the Ventura Production Division that stretches from Long Beach to just south of Bakersfield, Texaco spokeswoman Sharon Stakes said.

Company officials said it is unlikely that the state or federal government will open offshore oil reserves to exploration in the near future.

“We have pretty much reached our exploration potential in the area,” Stakes said. The company believes it can save money by managing existing Texaco wells in the area from its Denver office.

“It is a way to make the administration of these wells more efficient,” Stakes said.

Texaco’s decision further reduces the role of big oil companies in Ventura County. Forty years ago, a majority of county residents had some connection to Getty Oil, now a part of Texaco, and other oil companies. By last year, the number of oil industry employees had diminished to 2,400.

Although 170 Texaco jobs will remain in the area, the oil company’s cutbacks brought a disappointed reaction from oil company and business leaders.

“The county needs a balanced economy, and oil helped our balance with agriculture, retail and light industry,” said Ralph C. Schumacher, president of the Ventura County Economic Development Assn., a business advocacy group.

“In that light, it is going to hurt,” he said. “There are a lot of businesses that depend on the oil industry.”

Texaco’s move follows Chevron’s decision in March to lay off or transfer half of its 200 employees in the county.

Ventura County had been the headquarters for Chevron’s Southern California Production Division. But Chevron decided to set up a new regional headquarters in Bakersfield because of restrictions on offshore oil development.

“Although Texaco is a competitor of ours, I think it is very sad that they have to make this move,” said G.M. (Mike) Marcy, a spokesman for Chevron. He said Texaco’s decision underscores that the future of the oil industry no longer rests with coastal California.

“At the same time, the onshore fields are largely depleted and so the prospects for a major oil company to develop here are greatly reduced,” he said.

Both Chevron and Texaco are partners in the Point Arguello project that has three offshore platforms located about 12 miles west of Point Conception. Although the oil companies have drilled dozens of wells capable of producing 100,000 barrels a day, the wells have sat idle since 1987.

The sticking point is how to get the oil to shore in an environmentally sound manner. Santa Barbara County is on its second round of environmental impact statements on transporting the oil to Los Angeles by tanker.

Stakes said its stalled Point Arguello project was a factor in the company’s decision, but a relatively small one compared with the lack of oil reserves on land.

Texaco operates about 6,000 oil and gas wells on land in the Ventura division, which reaches from Long Beach to Bakersfield and San Luis Obispo. It also operates a large natural gas platform directly off the Carpinteria coast.

Stakes said the current crisis in the Middle East, which has elevated oil prices and renewed calls for more domestic oil production, did not play any part in Texaco’s decision.

She said the company decided to merge the offices now because it has openings in its Denver office and its offices in Bakersfield and near San Luis Obispo. “We are not laying off anybody,” Stakes said.

Texaco will leave its newly renovated two-story office building on Santa Clara Street in downtown Ventura, she said. No decision has been made on whether the company will sell or lease the building.

Stakes said Texaco is planning to complete construction of a new office building located on Ventura Avenue three miles from the center of town.