Fulfilling the Legacy

The use of oil in California dates back to the 1500’s when Spanish explorers landed on the coast and found Native Americans gathering thick oil from natural seeps. The sale of oil in California can be traced back to a Humboldt County seep in 1855, four years before Colonel Drake discovered oil in Pennsylvania and 46 years before the Lucas gusher at Spindletop, in Texas, ushered in the modern petroleum age.

On the California Central Coast, refining oil recovered from natural seeps for commercial purposes began as early as 1861 and the first wells were drilled in 1866. The first significant results from drilling activities in the Santa Maria Valley came in 1904 with the drilling of Hartnell No. 1.

In December of that year, the well began producing 12,000 barrels of oil per day making it, at that time, the most prolific well in California. The Hartnell well, popularly known as Old Maud, kicked off an oil boom in the town of Orcutt, named for William Warren Orcutt, an important pioneer of the California oil industry.

An immigrant to the Central Coast at age 12, Mr. Orcutt was a member of the first Stanford University graduating class and went to work for Union Oil Company. Early in his 42-year career with Union Oil, he surveyed the Santa Maria Valley area for the presence of oil and liked what he saw. Acting upon a report he issued in late 1901, the discovery well in his namesake Orcutt Field was drilled and has been producing ever since.

Today, Santa Maria Energy continues to produce oil from the Orcutt Field, building upon a rich history of natural resource development using 21st century production technologies.