Kern Remains King of California Oil Production

Published Thursday, October 9, 2014 on Central Valley Business Times.

• Nearly six times as much as next county
• More than 141.5 Million barrels of oil last year

When it comes to pumping oil out of the ground in California, one county continues to reign supreme: Kern County.

The latest report from the state Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources, last year producers pumped 141,585,620 barrels of oil from Kern's vast oil fields.

Los Angeles County, number two to Kern, saw total production of 24,662,715 barrels of oil.

Statewide, 199,772,433 barrels were produced, according to the state report.

 Other Central Valley counties and their 2013 oil production are:

• Fresno -- 5,941,962
• Kings -- 117,315
• Tulare -- 49,021
• Sacramento -- 22,283
• Yolo: -- 297
• San Joaquin – 181

Kern County had 43,568 active oil wells in 2013 and 15,863 inactive wells. The number of inactive wells in the county is greater than the total of all of the state's active wells in other counties.

Kern County's oil history traces back to the 1860s with asphalt and tar mining. The original Kern Oil Field was actually dug by hand, touching off the county's first oil boom in 1899.