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The new field is in Kern County and could contain 150 to 250 million barrels of oil and gas. Occidental CEO Ray Irani called it "the largest new oil and gas discovery made in California in more than 35 years." From the WSJ:
The new field is small compared to the biggest recent global finds, such as the Tahiti field in the Gulf of Mexico, thought to hold as much as 500 million barrels, or the Jubilee field in Ghana, which could be several times that size. But unlike those fields, Occidental's discovery is on shore, where wells are far cheaper to drill. The company has previously said its California production costs less than $10 per barrel.
The announcement comes just as debate heats up over a provision in the budget compromise that would resume drilling off the coast of Santa Barbara - the first new drilling in state waters in 40 years.