Oil Firms’ Deal Clouds Pipeline Plan : Petroleum: Major companies approve an agreement to move crude from Bakersfield by using an existing line.

The proposed Pacific Pipeline through Ventura County was dealt a crippling blow this week when major oil producers announced they would ship their oil through an existing pipeline beginning in 1996.

Chevron, Exxon and other major oil producers made a deal with the All American Pipeline Co. to send 170,000 barrels of crude a day in a circuitous route from their Santa Barbara County terminals northeast to Bakersfield and then south to Los Angeles refineries.

The 171-mile Pacific Pipeline would take a direct route across Ventura County for 53 miles before slicing into Los Angeles.

“It looks like the (Ventura County) portion is dead, but I can’t say for sure right now,” said Tom Rooney, project engineer for Pacific Pipeline Systems Inc.

Not only is the Ventura County section in jeopardy, but the entire pipeline project may no longer be feasible, said Linda Krop of the Santa Barbara-based Environmental Defense Center.

“With the volume of oil committed to the All American system, I don’t see how that leaves enough oil for the Pacific Pipeline,” Krop said.

The Pacific Pipeline originally was preferred by the oil producers over several alternatives, including the All American Pipeline. But last month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency called for further studies of the Pacific Pipeline project, a request that could delay construction of the $215-million project.

The proposed new pipeline has also encountered stiff political opposition, with the Los Angeles City Council already voting to oppose construction.

According to an agreement with the California Coastal Commission, the oil companies can ship oil by tanker through the Santa Barbara Channel only until Jan. 1, 1996. At that time, the oil companies are required to use a pipeline to get their oil to Los Angeles.

“We’ve got to have a long-term pipeline available to carry oil,” said Chevron spokesman G. Michael Marcy, explaining why the producers agreed to use the All American Pipeline through August, 2007.

Reeling from the news, executives at Pacific Pipeline insisted that their project was still alive but will have to be revised. Although the All American Pipeline will carry the crude north from Santa Barbara to Bakersfield, no pipeline currently is available to transport the oil from there into Los Angeles.

“If the Pacific Pipeline were to remain viable, it would be as an alternative route coming off the All American,” Rooney said.

Pacific would have to compete with two pipeline companies vying to link the All American route with Los Angeles refineries.

The proposed Cajon Pipeline would hook up to the All American line in western San Bernardino County and carry the crude about 100 miles to the refineries. The Four Corners Line 90, already in existence, would tie in with All American at Cadiz in San Bernardino County, 140 miles from Los Angeles. Line 90 now is being used to ship oil in the opposite direction.

Executives with All American Pipeline, a subsidiary of the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., think the Pacific project is in critical condition.

“I can’t say it’s dead, but we signed up the majority of producers it tried to sign up,” said Bruce Murchison, chief operating officer at All American. “We hope to sign up the rest next week.”

All American has an agreement with most of the major producers using the Gaviota Marine Terminal, where oil from Point Arguello offshore fields is stored. The company also signed up Exxon, which stores oil from offshore at a Las Flores Canyon facility in Santa Barbara County.

The Gaviota terminal, west of Santa Barbara, will ship 80,000 barrels a day at peak production, with the Las Flores facility shipping 90,000, Murchison said.

The possible demise of the Pacific Pipeline, particularly in Ventura County, is a relief to environmentalists. The pipeline was routed through sensitive wetlands and crossed the Santa Clara and Ventura rivers.

“We were concerned about the Pacific Pipeline because of the river crossings,” Krop said. “We definitely prefer pipelines over tankers, but the Pacific Pipeline has some environmental impact other pipelines don’t. Line 90 is environmentally superior because no new construction has to be done.”

If the pipeline isn’t built, Ventura County would lose some of the 400 construction jobs the project expected to generate, plus 24 permanent workers needed to staff two pumping stations in the county.