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Taft, Calif., is built on petroleum

A 38-foot monument to wildcatters stands in downtown Taft, in Kern County; locals brag it's the tallest bronze sculpture west of the Mississippi.

A 38-foot monument to wildcatters stands in downtown Taft, in Kern County; locals brag it’s the tallest bronze sculpture west of the Mississippi.   (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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Taft is a two-stoplight town sandwiched between giant oil fields, and residents never miss a chance to pay tribute to that heritage. Read the full story: Town hopes for jobs tapping California’s huge oil formation

Pump jack

An employee of Canary, a company that offers maintenance and equipment to drilling firms, works in an oil field in Kern County.   (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Oil fields

Pump jacks dot oil fields near Taft. The town is saddled with high unemployment and memories of past glory days, but residents hope for a second boom from oil trapped miles underground in dense rock formations.   (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Workshop

In Kern County, Canary employee Richard Olvera works with components for drilling oil. The petroleum deep in the Monterey shale formation, however, would be harder to reach.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Canary CEO

Canary’s chief executive, Dan K. Eberhart, left, anticipates a lot of oil extraction from deep underneath California. “If I didn’t think the Monterey Shale would blow up, we wouldn’t be here,” he says.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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