Platform Holly/Piers 421/Venoco Bankruptcy
Current Status
The Commission recently completed the removal of two enormous piers and caissons at Haskell’s Beach in the City of Goleta. These piers, built in the late 1920s as part of the Ellwood Oil Field, were the last two piers and caissons on State Lease 421. Please enjoy this video of the decommissioning work that depicts the work from the beginning, all the way through to the final restoration of the coastline.
The Commission, along with our project partners, have plugged the 30 wells on Platform Holly and eliminated the hydrogen sulfide risk to the community and environment from those wells. Staff are working to inert the platform by cleaning the structure and equipment of residual hydrocarbons; removing the conductor casings, which serve as the final well connections between the platform and seabed; and preparing the platform for a caretaker period whereby the platform can be safely destaffed while the platform awaits decommissioning.
Commission staff have also cleaned and eliminated residual hydrogen sulfide gas from the Ellwood Onshore Facility. Control of that facility will revert to the private owner on May 31, 2023. Staff is also focusing on the start of the environmental review process to inform the platform decommissioning and working with ExxonMobil to develop an engineering plan that will inform analysis under the California Environmental Quality Act. Staff expects to issue a Notice of Preparation for an Environmental Impact Report later this year and looks forward to providing a more in-depth update and answering questions from the community at our June 7 Town Hall.
The PRC 421-1 and 421-2 oil and gas decommissioning project is complete. This milestone project marks the end of oil production in the Ellwood Oil Field, production that started in the late 1920s and continued into the 1990s. At one time, the shoreline at Haskell’s Beach in the City of Goleta was marked by 13 piers and a welter of oil storage and processing facilities immediately onshore. Now the final two piers and caissons are gone, restoring full coastal access and eliminating public safety and environmental threats. The two structures, known as PRC 421-1 and 421-2, were installed in 1929 and 1930 for the purpose of oil and gas development of the Ellwood Oil Field. After Venoco filed for bankruptcy in 2017, the South Ellwood leases reverted to the State and the Commission embarked on the decommissioning project. The deteriorating piers and caissons represented a physical coastal obstruction, a potential public safety hazard, and a potential environmental hazard because of the presence of hydrocarbon-impacted soil and fill within the pier caissons.
Background
In April 2017, Venoco quitclaimed its interests in the South Ellwood Field leases, including Platform Holly and the Ellwood Beach pier leases near the City of Goleta. The quitclaims ended commercial oil and gas production in state waters in the Santa Barbara Channel and returned operational control of these assets to the Commission. California’s Coastal Sanctuary Act prohibits the Commission from issuing new offshore oil and gas leases.
The Commission selected Beacon West Energy Group, LLC as its contractor to operate and maintain Platform Holly and the Ellwood Onshore Facility. Beacon West, under the Commission’s oversight, began ensuring the security and safe daily operations and maintenance at Platform Holly and the Ellwood Onshore Facility in September 2017.
ExxonMobil, the successor in interest to the prior operator, Mobil Oil Corporation, and Venoco’s predecessor for these lease interests, agreed to fulfill its obligation to abandon the 30 wells on Platform Holly, seven of which were Venoco re-drilled wells and are state obligations, and the two near-shore wells on what was Oil & Gas Lease 421 in Goleta (Piers 421 wells).
The Piers 421 wells were successfully plugged and abandoned in 2019. Plug and abandonment work on Platform Holly began in October 2019, only to be halted in March 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and related physical distancing requirements. The Commission maintained 24-hour staffing at Platform Holly and the Ellwood Onshore Facility during the hiatus to ensure health and safety, given the dangerous amounts of hydrogen sulfide gas that is present in the wells until they are fully plugged and abandoned.
Public Meetings & Town Halls
- Public Hearings 02/10/2022
2 p.m. meeting | 6 p.m. meeting - Goleta Town Hall Meeting 12/08/2021
Presentation | Video of the meeting - Public Scoping Meetings 06/24/2021
2 p.m. meeting | 6 p.m. meeting - Goleta Town Hall Meeting 03/10/2021
Presentation | Video of the meeting - Goleta Town Hall Meeting 08/27/2020
Presentation | Video of the meeting - Goleta Town Hall Meeting 11/07/2019
Presentation | Webcast - Goleta Town Hall Meeting 06/27/2019
Presentation | Webcast - Goleta Town Hall Meeting 11/15/2018
Presentation | Video of the meeting - Goleta Town Hall Meeting 05/14/2018
Presentation - Goleta Town Hall Meeting 06/15/2017
Presentation | Photo Gallery
Previous Staff Reports
- 02/27/2018 (92) – Consider delegating authority to the Executive Officer to enter into Agreements necessary for access and operations on former State Oil and Gas Lease Nos. PRC 1466.1, PRC 145.1, and PRC 410.1 related to Rincon Island; and provide an update on the status of Oil and Gas Decommissioning Projects undertaken by the Commission, including the Becker Well Abandonment and Remediation Project and the decommissioning of facilities on former leases encompassing Platform Holly and Rincon Island, off Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties.
- 07/11/1997 (76) – Consider Approval of the Assignment of Undivided Interests in Oil and Gas Lease Nos. PRC 421.1, PRC 3120.1 and PRC 3242.1, and industrial leases PRC 3904.1 and PRC 5515.1, Santa Barbara County
Additional Information
- Final Abandonment of PRC 421-2 Well
- Update on Abandoned Offshore Oil & Gas Wells
- Memorandum of Understanding – CSLC / City of Goleta
- 421 Decommissioning Agreement – CSLC / Exxon
- Phase 1 Agreement – CSLC / Exxon
- Beacon West Energy Group, LLC contract
- ExxonMobil letter of intent
- Reimbursement Agreement extension request
- Request for payment to Aspen Insurance
- Default letter to Venoco
- Reimbursement Agreement
- Resolution
- Assignment Agreement – Mobil Oil Corp. agrees to retain responsibility for the Leases
- Geologic Energy Management Division Orders
- Goleta Oil Release
- Davis v. State of California
Leases, Amendments & Quitclaims
Lease PRC 421 – 10/22/1949
PRC 421 Amendment – 10/22/1959
PRC 421 Amendment – 04/01/1993
PRC 421 Amendment – 08/01/1997
PRC 421 Amendment – 08/26/2013
PRC 421 Quitclaim – 04/13/2017