page_title: Edison Oil Field
section_title: Setting
hierarchical_section_title: Edison Oil Field / Setting
caption_attribution_description: English: Edison field oil well, in an agricultural setting (row crops and orchards). Own work, GFDL/equiv.
context_page_description: The Edison Oil Field is a large oil field in Kern County, California, in the United States, in the southeastern part of the San Joaquin Valley and adjacent foothills east-southeast of Bakersfield. The field has a total productive area of over 8,000 acres, most of which is intermingled with agricultural land uses; oil pumps and storage tanks are surrounded with row crops and orchards in much of the field's extent. Discovered in 1928, and with a cumulative production of 149 million barrels of oil as of 2008, and having over 6 million barrels in reserve, it is ranked 38th among California's oil fields by total ultimate recovery. It is a mature field in decline, and is run entirely by small independent operators. As of 2008, there were 40 different oil companies active on the field, one of the most in the state for a single field. 914 wells remained active on the field, averaging only two barrels of oil per well per day from the dwindling reservoirs.
context_section_description: The field lies in the flat bottomlands of the lower San Joaquin Valley, east-southeast of Bakersfield just outside the outlying residential areas. A small portion of the field – the Racetrack Hill area – extends into the lower foothills of the Sierra Nevada. The active portion of the field is approximately 9 miles (14 km) long north to south by 6 miles (10 km) across, with the most productive portions to the east and northeast. California State Route 58 crosses the field east to west, and California State Route 184, the Weedpatch Highway, runs north to south through the western part of the oil field.
  Terrain in the vicinity of the oil field varies from almost table-flat, in the valley bottomlands, to rolling hills in the northeast, with elevations ranging from approximately 500 to 900 feet (150 to 270 m) above sea level throughout the productive region.  The land rises with a slight gradient to the east and northeast, in the direction of the foothills of the southernmost Sierra Nevada. Climate is typical of the southern San Joaquin Valley, and is arid. Temperatures in the summer routinely exceed 100 °F (38 °C) on cloudless days. Rain falls mainly in the winter months, and averages 5 to 6 inches (130 to 150 mm) annually.  Freezes occur occasionally during the winter, and the winter months are also subject to frequent dense tule fogs, limiting visibility to near zero. Drainage from the field is generally into the irrigation canal system, but because of the flat surface gradient most rainfall soaks directly into the ground. The air quality in the vicinity of the field, as recorded in the town of Arvin 2 miles (3 km) to the west, is among the worst in the United States.
caption: Oil well on the Edison field in an agricultural setting
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