Texaco Announces Oil Operations Sale
Officials from Texaco have agreed to sell their Ventura County operations to CalResources, the largest onshore oil and gas producers in the county.
Terms of the sale, which also includes a 100-acre Orange County oil lease, were not announced, but officials of both firms said they see the sale as favorable.
The local Texaco lease includes about 1,800 acres in the hills north of Ventura and adjacent to CalResources, an affiliate of Shell Oil and one of the oldest oil producers in the area.
It was unclear whether the transaction announced last week would affect the 115 jobs associated with the wells owned by Texaco.
Both companies have had problems with spills and leaks in Ventura County.
Texaco executives in July agreed to pay $195,000 to settle a civil suit brought by the Ventura County district attorney’s office. The company is still under investigation for another leak that occurred in 1994 in the hills above Ventura Avenue.
Last March, workers at CalResources reported a series of leaks and spills following heavy rains.
As a hillside gave way in La Conchita, 2,000 gallons of crude oil spilled in the hills northwest of Ventura from wells and tanks operated by CalResources.
The sale announced March 20 increases CalResources oil-production levels to more than 13,000 barrels of crude oil a day, company officials said.
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