| Location |
San Joaquin Basin which is home to the Kern County oil discovery.
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| Formation Details |
The Monterey Shale is a rib-shaped formation that extends from northern California down to the Los Angeles area, offshore, and onto the outlying islands. The Monterey Shale Formation is producing oil & natural gas and is an emerging shale play. Counties include Kern County, Orange County, Ventura County, Monterey County and Santa Barbara County, California. |
| Production Activity |
Natural Gas estimates in the Monterey Shale stop at between 1.5-2.0 trillion cubic feet. |
| Notes |
The Monterey Shale is also known as the Miocene Monterey Formation. Monterey Shale has been extracted since the end of the 19th century, however; in small volume.The Monterey Shale is composed of a concoction of many substances including folded mud deposits and highly dense chert (Chert is a compact rock consisting essentially of microcrystalline quartz It is extremely hard and very difficult to drill). The Monterey Shale, while it consists of both oil and gas, is primarily oil. Extraction is focused mainly from vertical drilling techniques. |
