page_title: North Belridge Oil Field
section_title: History, production, and operations
hierarchical_section_title: North Belridge Oil Field / History, production, and operations
caption_attribution_description: English: Greka operations on North Belridge. Photo by self, May 3, 2009; GFDL.
context_page_description: The North Belridge Oil Field is a large oil field along California State Route 33 in the northwestern portion of Kern County, California, about 45 miles west of Bakersfield. It is contiguous with the larger South Belridge Oil Field to the southeast, in a region of highly productive and mature fields. Discovered in 1912, it has had a cumulative production of 136,553,000 barrels of oil, and retains 27,443,000 barrels in reserve, as of the end of 2006, making it the 40th largest oil field in the state.
context_section_description: The discovery well was drilled by Mannell-Minor Petroleum Company, "M.M. No. 1", in 1912, into the "Fractured Shale" Pool.  No initial production data were compiled, and it was not until 1915 that oil recovery amounts in barrels per day are available.
  In 1979, Shell Oil acquired Belridge Oil Company, the long-time operator of the field, and maintained most of the production until 1997, at which time Aera Energy LLC, a joint venture of Shell and Mobil Oil Company, took over.  However the North Belridge component of the giant field had several small independent operators, most of which have either left or have been acquired by larger companies.  Current operators on the field as of 2008 include Aera Energy LLC; American Energy Operations, Inc.; and Greka Energy.  In 2008 Aera was the largest operator, with approximately 1,300 active oil wells.  American Energy had approximately 150, and Greka Energy 73.  American Energy produces from the Dow Chanslor lease, which straddles the boundary between the North and South Belridge fields, while Greka maintains a group of production wells along Highway 33 in the northeast portion, in the Belridge, Gibson and McPhail leases.
  Several enhanced recovery methods have been employed at the North Belridge Field, including cyclic steam (the "huff and puff" method, on the heavy oil in the Tulare pool); steam flooding; gas injection (on the Temblor Sands and the Y Sand); and waterflooding.
  Over 2,800 wells had been drilled on the field since its discovery in 1912.
caption: View into the Greka operations on their lease on the North Belridge Field; the Temblor Range is in the distance.
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