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Plains
- Pedernales
Lompoc Oil and Gas Facility
What's New
Tranquillon Ridge
Appeals: Three appeals and one
Brown Act violation claim were filed
by the May 1, 2008 deadline regarding
the County Planning Commission’s April 21,
2008 approval of PXP’s Tranquillon Ridge Oil & Gas
Project. Appeals were filed by ExxonMobil
Exploration Company/Sunset Exploration, Inc.,
by Vaquero
Energy, Inc., and by Bruce
W. Bell. Sunset Exploration, Inc. filed a claim that
the Planning Commission’s action violated the
Ralph M. Brown Act. The County Board of Supervisors
will consider the appeals at a public hearing; the
date for this hearing has not yet been set.
Additional approvals: PXP must obtain
approvals from the California State Lands
Commission, the California Coastal Commission,
and the federal Minerals Management Service
before drilling into the Tranquillon
Ridge reserves may begin.
Planning Commission Action: The
County Planning
Commission voted 4-0-1
(one abstention) to certify the 2008
Final Environmental Impact Report and
adopt findings and conditions of approval.
The staff report to the County Planning
Commission is available here and
an errata for the staff report and Final
EIR, which was incorporated into the
Planning Commission’s approval,
is available here.
The staff presentation at the hearing
may be viewed here and
a video of the Commission’s hearing
is posted at http://sbcounty.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=5,
under “April 21, 2008 Planning
Commission”.
Background
The Final
Environmental Impact (Final EIR) for
the Tranquillon Ridge project was
released on March 27, 2008. The Final
EIR includes written comments, comments
made at the December 2006 public
hearing on the Draft EIR, and responses
to these comments in Section 9.0
of the document. The Final EIR also
includes revisions to the EIR text.
Hard copies and CDs of the Final
EIR are available at the Energy Division;
please contact Nancy Minick at (805)
568-2506 if you would like to receive
a copy.
The Draft Environmental Impact Report
for PXP’s Tranquillon Ridge Project
was prepared by Santa Barbara County,
as CEQA Lead Agency. The Draft EIR
was circulated for public review from
October 30, 2006 through January 16,
2007. A public workshop was held on
November 15, 2006 and a public comment
hearing was held on December 11, 2006
to receive comments on the adequacy
of the document.
Pursuant to a Lease Line Well Agreement
between the MMS and the California State
Lands Commission executed in 1997, Torch
(project operator at the time) drilled
a well from Platform Irene that had a
bottomhole location in the State Tidelands.
The well resulted in the discovery of
a potentially rich hydrocarbon zone that
increased in size into the State Tidelands.
This discovery resulted in a subsequent
Well Royalty Sharing Agreement between
the MMS and the State Lands Commission.
Currently, the oil and gas produced from
the Tidelands well is combined with the
production from the wells in federal
waters and is transported to the LOGP
for processing.
The operator determined that several
additional wells could be drilled with
bottomhole locations near the seaward
boundary of the State of California.
These wells could drain significant quantities
of oil and gas from lands owned by the
State, substantially in excess of that
currently being drained. PXP proposes
that this method of producing the State
Tidelands oil and gas is inefficient,
would require a longer period to produce,
and would not allow the full development
of the Tranquillon Ridge field and so
applied to the State Lands Commission
to create a new State Tidelands lease
that extends shoreward from OCS P-0441.
PXP Pipeline Excavation, Inspection
and Possible Repairs
PXP
received approval on March 15, 2007 from the California
Coastal Commission (E-06-15)
to expose a portion
of its three pipelines (oil, gas and
produced water) located near Wall Beach
to investigate the need for pipeline
repairs.
However, The California Coastal Commission is currently
considering an amendment to permit #E-06-15 at the
request of PXP to allow for contingency night lighting.
Specifically, the excavation
would be from Valve Site #1 located near
the railroad tracks, west towards the
ocean approximately 150 feet from the
valve site. The excavation site is located
on Vandenberg Air Force Base. Depending
upon the inspection results, certain
portions of the three pipelines will
be repaired, replaced or left in place.
PXP is awaiting the results of a Section
7 US Fish and Wildlife consultation requested
by Vandenberg AFB before starting work.
Description
An ongoing oil and gas production and processing project consisting
of an offshore platform (Irene) that produces oil and gas from the
Point Pedernales
field. Pipelines are used to transport oil and gas produced
offshore to onshore processing facilities.
Location
Point Pedernales is the only existing developed and active field
in the Outer Continental Shelf waters between Point Arguello and
the Santa Barbara-San Luis Obispo County line. The Lompoc Oil and
Gas Processing Facility, located approximately five miles northeast
of the City of Lompoc, receives wet oil and gas from Platform Irene
in the Point Arguello field.
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Overhead View of the Lompoc
Oil & Gas Processing Facility
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Offshore Facilities
| Platform Irene
- Lease Location: OCS-P 0441 (Point Pedernales Unit)
- Year Installed: 1985
- Water Depth: 242 feet
- Deck Weight: 2,500 tons
- Total Weight: 7,652 tons
- Fabricated: Japan
- Number of Wells Slots: 72
- Distance from Land: 4.7 miles
Pipelines
- 20-inch diameter wet oil from Platform Irene to Lompoc
Oil & Gas Processing Facility (22.2 miles long - 10.1
offshore, 12.1 onshore)
- 8-inch diameter sour gas from Platform Irene to Lompoc
Oil & Gas Processing Facility (22.2 miles long - 10.1
offshore, 12.1 onshore)
- 8-inch diameter produced water from Platform Irene to
Lompoc Oil &Gas Processing (22.2 miles long - 10.1 offshore,
12.1 onshore) - not in use.
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Photo provided by the Minerals Management Service
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Onshore Facilities
Lompoc Oil & Gas Processing Facility
- Site is located on 22.5 developed acres
- Major Systems
- Oil-water separation
- Treatment and discharge of produced water
- Treatment of raw gas
- Design Capacities
- Dry oil output - 80,000 barrels per day (bpd) (wet oil)
- Oil Storage - 100,000 barrels (bbl)
- Produced water - 57,000 barrels of water per day (bwpd)
- Natural Gas - 15 thousand cubic feet per day (MSCFD)
- Permitted Capacities
- Dry oil output - 36,000 (bpd)
- Oil Storage - 25,000 (bbl)
- Produced water - 57,000 (bwpd)
- Natural Gas - 15 (MSCFD)
- Offsite Pipelines
- 20-inch diameter wet oil from Platform Irene to Lompoc
Oil & Gas Processing Facility (22.2 miles long - 10.1
offshore, 12.1 onshore)
- 8-inch diameter sour gas from Platform Irene to Lompoc
Oil & Gas Processing Facility (22.2 miles long - 10.1
offshore, 12.1 onshore)
- 8-inch diameter produced water from Lompoc Oil &Gas
Processing Facility to Platform (22.2 miles long - 10.1 offshore,
12.1 onshore) - not in use.
- 12-inch diameter processed gas from Lompoc Oil & Gas
Processing Facility to Southern California Gas Company station
(7.5 miles long)
Fields/Production History
Point Pedernales Field
- Production Began: 1987
- Oil Information:
- Source: Monterey Formation
- Gravity: 16° API
- Cumulative production through 2000: 64 million barrels
(MMBL)
- Percentage of total Pacific Outer Continental Shelf (POCS)
oil/condensate landed in Santa Barbara County: 12%
- Estimated reserves as of 2000: 13 MMBL
- Gas Information:
- Source: Monterey Formation
- Cumulative production through 2000: 19 billion cubic feet
(BCF)
- Percentage of total POCS gas landed in Santa Barbara County:
3%
- Estimated reserves as of 2000: 6 BCF
Tranquillon Ridge Field
- Production Began: 1997
- Oil Information:
- Source: Monterey Formation
- Gravity: 16° API (assumed to be similar to Pt. Pedernales
field)
- Cumulative production through 2000: 200 thousand barrels
(MBBL)
- Percentage of total Pacific Outer Continental Shelf (POCS)
oil/condensate landed in Santa Barbara County: <1%
- Estimated reserves as of 2000: 225* MMBL
- Gas Information:
- Source: Monterey Formation
- Cumulative production through 2000: 20 million cubic feet
(MMCF)
- Percentage of total POCS gas landed in Santa Barbara County:
<1%
- Estimated reserves as of 2000: 50* BCF
* Source: Tranquillon Ridge Environmental Impact
Report
Product Distribution
Crude Oil
- Distributed via pipeline to various locations as follows:
- Santa Maria Refinery for upgrading; then
- Northward to the ConocoPhillips Rodeo Refinery in the San
Francisco Bay Area
Butane and heavier NGLs
- Distributed via pipeline (blended into oil) to:
- Lompoc Oil & Gas Processing Facility
Natural Gas
- Distributed via pipeline to:
- Southern California retail market
Propane
- Distributed via truck to:
- Varies seasonally according to market demand
Past Activities
Emulsion Pipeline Operational Information
- All four tracts in the Point Pedernales
Unit were leased in 1981 as part of
lease sale 53.
- Two platforms were originally proposed
to develop the unit, Union's Platform
Irene, and Exxon's Platform Shamrock.
- Unocal's directional drilling capability
allowed full-field development from
a single Platform (Irene) beginning
in 1987.
- Nuevo Energy purchased the project
from Unocal and proposes to further
develop the field, which extends into
State waters, using new advances in
directional drilling techniques.
- Torch Operating Company's crude
oil pipeline from Platform Irene to
the Lompoc Oil and Gas Processing Facility
north of Lompoc was constructed in
1986 by Unocal as part of the original
Point Pedernales project.
- On September 28, 1997 this 20-inch
diameter pipeline ruptured, spilling
crude oil into the Pacific Ocean approximately
2.5 miles from shore at a depth of
120 feet. The resultant abrupt loss
of pressure triggered an automatic
shutdown of the pipeline; however,
the operator overrode this automatic
shutdown. Over the next 36 hours, an
estimated range of 163 to more than
1,200 barrels of crude oil spilled
into the ocean. Miles of coastline
were fouled and hundreds of seabirds
were killed.
- Response to the spill was handled
through a "Unified Command" structure
which consisted of Torch Operating
Company, the U.S. Coast Guard, and
the State Department of Fish and Game's
Office of Oil Spill Prevention and
Response. The Channel Islands National
Marine Sanctuary also provided early
response to the spill by mobilizing
its aircraft on the day of the spill
and by using its boat on the following
day to assess the spill on the water
and to pick up oiled birds.
- In the days following the spill,
the ruptured pipeline was wrapped in
fiberglass to prevent further leakage.
- On November 11, 1997, Torch completed
its repair of the 20-inch diameter
pipeline.
- On September 14, 1999, Santa Barbara
County filed a complaint against Torch
Operating Company (and the other Point
Pedernales owners) in Superior Court.
The complaint addressed Torch's failure
to rule out a pipeline leak or rupture
prior to overriding safety devices
and resuming operations on the night
of the offshore oil spill. The People's
and County's case asserted that Torch's
actions, and certain failures to act,
immediately following the rupture of
the pipeline, constitute violations
of key safety provisions of the County's
permit for the project. Subsequently,
Torch settled this litigation with
the County for $1,000,000, while preserving
their intention to seek judicial relief
from County authority.
- On September 14, 2001 ultrasonic
and magnetic particle testing of Nuevo's
Point Pedernales oil pipeline revealed
cracks in three of its offshore flanges.
These non-destructive (NDT) pipeline
tests were required by the County.
- The flanges are located just over
a mile southwest of the Santa Ynez
River mouth.
- On September 16, 2001, Nuevo shut
down Platform Irene and the Point Pedernales
pipelines due to the discovery of the
flange cracks. The pipeline was pigged
and flushed with seawater to remove
the residual oil.
- The first defect was 2.5 inches
long and removed by surface grinding.
A second crack was reported to be 7.5
inches long with a depth of .25 inch,
and the third crack was estimated to
be 10.5 inches long with an unknown
depth.
- A crack in a flange weld was determined
to be the cause of the failure of Nuevo's
offshore oil pipeline in 1997. The
flange was determined to be brittle
due to its high carbon content and
the use of improper welding procedure
(failure to pre-heat the metal prior
to welding).
- After the 1997 rupture, the County
required annual flange surveys including
visual inspections and ultrasonic (thickness
and shear wave) and magnetic particle
testing.
- In October of 2001, Nuevo received
conditional approval from the Minerals
Management Service, State Lands Commission,
Coastal Commission, and County to proceed
with the repair work. The repairs included
replacing one additional flange which
does not contain cracks at this time,
but which has properties similar to
the flange that failed in 1997. A total
of 5 flanges were replaced.
- The repair activities took place
both in state and federal waters.
- In addition to Nuevo's proposed
repairs, the County recommended that
an additional original flange on the
J-tube (Flange 1-4 at tie-in 1-1) should
also be replaced due to a number of
factors. These factors include the
relatively high carbon equivalency
of the flange, the absence of information
confirming that proper welding procedures
were used, absence of information regarding
the flange's and the welding's compliance
with NACE requirements for hardness,
and the recent discovery of cracks
on the other flanges.
- Since Nuevo did not replace this
flange, the County now requires semiannual
ultrasonic (thickness and shear wave),
magnetic particle, and visual inspections
over the life of the service of this
flange.
- After completing the repairs and
complying with pre-start conditions,
Nuevo received approval from the County,
Minerals Management Service, State
Lands Commission, and Coastal Commission
to restart Platform Irene and the pipeline
on January 4, 2001. The pre-start conditions
included review and approval of smart
pig results, hydrotest results; a final
report on marine mammal observations;
and evidence that debris had been removed
from the repair area.
- A claim by the State and federal
trustee agencies for natural resource
damage and penalties following the
1997 oil spill was settled in May 2002
for three million dollars.
Tranquillon Ridge Historical
Information
May 2003 - Tranquillon Ridge Project
Litigation
- The Court sustained the County’s
demurer to Nuevo’s petition and
complaint regarding the County’s
denial of the Tranquillon Ridge application.
The Court ruled that CEQA does not
require the County to certify an EIR
where the County has elected to deny
the project application. The Court
also ruled that the claim for rescission
of the contract and damages as pled
was barred pursuant to the holding
in Mission Oaks v. Santa Barbara County
and CEQA guidelines section 15270(c).
The Court allowed Nuevo to amend its
complaint on two issues: 1) the contract
claim (whether the County had a contractual
duty to certify the EIR) and 2) Nuevo
may amend to allege that the County’s
findings are not supported by substantial
evidence.
October 2002 -
Tranquillon Ridge Project Litigation
- On October 25 Nuevo filed a lawsuit
against the County following the Board
of Supervisor's final action to deny
the Tranquillon Ridge application.
Many of the issues previously raised
by Nuevo, lead agency determination,
CEQA baseline, and failure to certify
the EIR within a year, are listed as
causes of action in the suit. Nuevo
is requesting that the court issue
a writ of mandate directing that the
county revise and recirculate the FEIR
with the proper baseline, assign the
State Land Commission as lead agency,
or certify the EIR as legally adequate
so it can be used by the other agencies.
2002 Tranquillon Ridge Project
- Nuevo Energy Company and Mission
Resource Corporation had requested
a revision to the Santa Barbara County
Point Pedernales Project Final Development
Plan (FDP) to allow development (drilling
and production operations) of a proposed
California State Lease (Tranquillon
Ridge Oil Field).
- The proposed Tranquillon Ridge Project
would have included directionally drilling
up to 30 wells from Platform Irene
into the State Tidelands, using extended-reach
technology. The proposed project was
estimated to have a life of 30 years.
- Reserves are estimated at 170 to
200 million barrels of oil and 40 to
50 billion standard cubic feet of gas.
- Oil produced from the Tranquillon
Ridge Field was proposed to be processed
at the LOGP.
- An Environmental Impact Report (EIR)
was released for the Project on February
7, 2002 and the comment period closed
on March 25, 2002. The final EIR was
released in June 2002.
- Key issues assessed in the EIR include
the impacts of constructing and operating
new facilities along the existing Point
Pedernales pipelines, the extension
of life of the Point Pedernales facilities
over what was assumed when the project
was originally approved, and the increased
throughput of oil over current levels.
- Two other separate but related projects
analyzed in the EIR are the LOGP Produced
Water Treatment Plant Upgrade and the
Sisquoc Bi-directional Flow Project.
- The Produced Water Treatment Plant
Upgrade was approved to allow produced
water to be treated to a level that
would allow for ocean discharge at
Platform Irene. Currently, produced
water is reinjected at the Lompoc Oil
Field or at Platform Irene.
- The Sisquoc Bi-directional flow
project was approved to allow for increased
operational flexibility. In the event
that crude oil production exceeds the
capacity of ConocoPhillips's Santa
Maria Refinery, under the bi-directional
flow project crude oil could be transported
to the All American Pipeline for delivery
to other refining locations.
- Two public hearings (February 21,
2002 and March 14, 2002; both from
6:30 to 9:00 p.m.) were held at the
Lompoc City Council Chambers to accept
public testimony on the adequacy of
the EIR.
- At a Planning Commission hearing
on June 20, 2002, the Tranquillon Ridge
Project did not receive approval (on
a series of 2-2 votes). Nuevo appealed
the Planning Commission's action to
the Board of Supervisors who heard
testimony regarding this project on
September 10, 2002. The appeal hearing
was continued to September 24 and to
October 22, 2002.
- On September 24, 2002, the Board
unanimously upheld the Planning Commission's
approvals of Nuevo's LOGP Produced
Water Treatment Project and ConocoPhillips's
Sisquoc Bi-directional Flow Project.
- At the October 22, 2002 hearing,
the Board of Supervisors denied the
Nuevo Energy Company's Tranquillon
Ridge project on a 3 to 2 vote.
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