Jun. 9—State regulators took action this week against two companies they say are responsible for oil wells found late last month to have been leaking methane in the Arvin area.
Notices of violation issued Wednesday call on two companies — one locally based and another whose listed agent lives in the Bay Area — to immediately stop emission of the potent greenhouse gas. Both were ordered to notify the state once the leaks were addressed, and they were warned that failure to act could result in civil penalties.
The allegations represent about half the 27 facilities found in late May to have been leaking. Their discovery as part of a state-led initiative came about one year after 45 oil wells were found to have been releasing methane unchecked in Bakersfield.
All but two of the 13 wells the California Geologic Energy Management Division said were found leaking in the Mountain View Oil Field were idle facilities listed as having been operated by Los Gatos-based Sunray Petroleum Inc. The wells are spread across three leases named Arvin Waterflood Unit, George and Portman.
Agent James Scott did not respond to a request for comment.
CalGEM said the other operator, Caballero Operations LLC, was responsible for two wells discovered leaking in the Porter-Day lease.
Caballero agent Curtis Huge, chief operations officer at Bakersfield's Hathaway LLC, said by email Thursday the company had not been aware of the leaks. He stated the emissions were repaired within 24 hours, as verified by regional and state officials.
Huge added that the company obtained the 80-year-old oilfield assets in May 2020, and that since then, "no other operator in the area has been as vigilant" as Caballero has in "reducing their footprint and reducing their emissions."
"To take these specific violations and not look at the overall improvements we have made would be a misrepresentation of what we have achieved," he wrote.
CalGEM said the other 15 leaky wells were repaired by the various responsible parties.
The agency offered an update by email Friday saying Caballero reported on Wednesday, the day its violation notice was issued, that repairs to its wells had been completed. CalGEM said it plans to inspect the repairs.
It added that Sunray has indicated it no longer owns the leaking wells since another operator bought them out of bankruptcy. But CalGEM said Sunray is not relieved of its responsibility for them "until the wells are safely plugged and sealed to protect public health and the environment."
Agency spokesman Jacob Roper wrote that contractors hired by CalGEM hope to start work early next week on Sunray's 11 leaky wells. He added that the repairs will be funded by idle well fees paid by oil and gas operators, and that the agency will seek reimbursement for those expenses.