In California's oil patch, Ukraine war stirs one last hope of keeping wells flowing
Here amid the dusty hills and deserted main streets of California’s oil country, the last three years have delivered “one kick in the gut after another,” some say.
“We’re not being allowed to do what we do best for what California needs most — local oil,” says Taft Mayor Dave Noerr, standing in an oil field in the city. Newsom has since been named a defendant in lawsuits filed by Kern County and the Western States Petroleum Assn., which accuse him of causing “irreparable harm” to roughly 23,900 people who, directly or indirectly, depend on Kern County’s 76 active oil fields to earn a living. The lawsuits want a judge to declare that his actions are “are null and void and exceed the bounds of law.”
In a letter sent to Newsom a week ago, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said, “it is critical that we actively work to replace Russian oil imports” with “cleaner American energy that can be produced in California by Californians.” But viewed at close range, the robustness of what Noerr described as “a bump in production of about 5% to 10%” looks like a fragile boomlet.
The big question now is whether it will grow into something lasting and beneficial on streets that embody many of the most attractive attributes of small-town Americana, along with bronze oil rigs and other pieces of machinery erected as reminders of their economic roots.Just three years ago, Kern County ranked first among California’s oil-producing counties, producing 119 million barrels of oil, about 71% of the state’s production.
Even with a ban on imported oil, the drive to phase out fossil fuel emissions remains an urgent priority for many. A huge seep in Chevron Corp.’s Cymric Oilfield, just outside McKittrick, unleashed a gusher of troubles for the region in 2019. More than 1 million gallons of oil and brine oozed from a well, filling a dry creek and creating a hazardous black lagoon.
“Losing both prisons in one year — on top of everything else — was devastating for this town,” said Michael Long, 67, owner of Black Gold Brewing Co. in Taft, where patrons are offered an assortment of Thai food, craft beers, guns and ammo.
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