4 ms·

Crude oil floating in the ocean used to be a big nuisance in parts of California. It is a natural phenomenon, created by oil deposits on the ocean floor leaking

Crude oil floating in the ocean used to be a big nuisance in parts of California. It is a natural phenomenon, created by oil deposits on the ocean floor leaking into the environment. Santa Barbara was particularly famous for it. Extraction of that oil via commercial wells greatly reduced the natural seepage, which is why there is so little crude oil floating in that ocean water today. Oil drilling actually made the water cleaner.

deleted 8mo ago
[deleted]
ta9000 8mo ago
So you’re saying drilling destroyed crude oil’s natural habitat?
dawnerd 8mo ago
I remember swimming in Santa Barbara growing up (well closer to the Ventura side really) and having to dodge oil on the sand and water.
peterlada 8mo ago
To this day if you walk on the beach your soles or the soles of your shoes will get sticky tar spots. You need baby oil wipes to clean them up before entering your home. And some of it, if not most of it is not natural seepage but early environmental catastrophes in the 50s and 60s, particularly around Summerland. (Source ex-resident)
mikkupikku 8mo ago
Wtf I love Exxon now.
gamblor956 8mo ago
Natural seepage is still just as big of an issue now as it was back then in those areas, including Santa Barbara.
pentamassiv 8mo ago
How did the wildlife adapt to that? There must be some cool species there
- jandrewrogers 8mo ago
  I don't know much about it but I have read that the local ecosystem is well-adapted to the oil seep environment. That area has been like that for something like 100,000 years, which is a considerable amount of time in evolutionary terms.
cryptoneo 8mo ago
To me this "drilling is good for the environment narrative" sounded a bit misleading. And not far down the rabbit whole one finds: The author of the study often cited by oil companies for above narrative, felt impelled to publish a clarifying statement: https://luyendyk.faculty.geol.ucsb.edu/Seeps%20pubs/Luyendyk_BOS.pdf https://luyendyk.faculty.geol.ucsb.edu/Seeps%20pubs/Luyendyk... Maybe stricter guidelines against operational "routine" spills led to a reduction of the sticky spots, plausible?
- jandrewrogers 8mo ago
  Per NOAA and USGS, ~20 million liters of crude oil naturally seeps into that part of the California ocean each year. That is more crude oil each year than the worst oil spill in California history[0]. You are projecting your biases. There was no "drilling is good for the environment" narrative. I was recounting an interesting fact about the environment there. Many of these seeps are under considerable pressure as there is substantial natural gas mixed in. The seepage rate of each has been mapped and studied for many decades. It has long been observed that the introduction of drilling appears to substantially reduced the seepage rate at many of these underwater sites. Drilling wells significantly reduces natural pressure in these reservoirs, likely leading to the observed reductions in seepage. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1969_Santa_Barbara_oil_spill https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1969_Santa_Barbara_oil_spill
  - Merovius 8mo ago
    > There was no "drilling is good for the environment" narrative. … > Oil drilling actually made the water cleaner.
    - jandrewrogers 8mo ago
      For it to be a "narrative", there would need to be an additional claim that this specific case and context, which is factual, generalizes to most unrelated cases. That is not in evidence. Thinking that this was an attempt to create a narrative is a failure of reading comprehension. This insistence that acknowledgement of facts has an ideological narrative is a pernicious strain of anti-science thinking.
annoyingnoob 8mo ago
There is still tons of tar on beaches in Santa Barbara county, mostly all from natural seeps.

deleted 8mo ago

[deleted]

ta9000 8mo ago

So you’re saying drilling destroyed crude oil’s natural habitat?

dawnerd 8mo ago

I remember swimming in Santa Barbara growing up (well closer to the Ventura side really) and having to dodge oil on the sand and water.

peterlada 8mo ago

To this day if you walk on the beach your soles or the soles of your shoes will get sticky tar spots. You need baby oil wipes to clean them up before entering your home. And some of it, if not most of it is not natural seepage but early environmental catastrophes in the 50s and 60s, particularly around Summerland. (Source ex-resident)

mikkupikku 8mo ago

Wtf I love Exxon now.

gamblor956 8mo ago

Natural seepage is still just as big of an issue now as it was back then in those areas, including Santa Barbara.

pentamassiv 8mo ago

How did the wildlife adapt to that? There must be some cool species there

jandrewrogers 8mo ago
I don't know much about it but I have read that the local ecosystem is well-adapted to the oil seep environment. That area has been like that for something like 100,000 years, which is a considerable amount of time in evolutionary terms.

cryptoneo 8mo ago

To me this "drilling is good for the environment narrative" sounded a bit misleading. And not far down the rabbit whole one finds: The author of the study often cited by oil companies for above narrative, felt impelled to publish a clarifying statement: https://luyendyk.faculty.geol.ucsb.edu/Seeps%20pubs/Luyendyk_BOS.pdf https://luyendyk.faculty.geol.ucsb.edu/Seeps%20pubs/Luyendyk... Maybe stricter guidelines against operational "routine" spills led to a reduction of the sticky spots, plausible?

jandrewrogers 8mo ago
Per NOAA and USGS, ~20 million liters of crude oil naturally seeps into that part of the California ocean each year. That is more crude oil each year than the worst oil spill in California history[0]. You are projecting your biases. There was no "drilling is good for the environment" narrative. I was recounting an interesting fact about the environment there. Many of these seeps are under considerable pressure as there is substantial natural gas mixed in. The seepage rate of each has been mapped and studied for many decades. It has long been observed that the introduction of drilling appears to substantially reduced the seepage rate at many of these underwater sites. Drilling wells significantly reduces natural pressure in these reservoirs, likely leading to the observed reductions in seepage. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1969_Santa_Barbara_oil_spill https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1969_Santa_Barbara_oil_spill
- Merovius 8mo ago
  > There was no "drilling is good for the environment" narrative. … > Oil drilling actually made the water cleaner.
  - jandrewrogers 8mo ago
    For it to be a "narrative", there would need to be an additional claim that this specific case and context, which is factual, generalizes to most unrelated cases. That is not in evidence. Thinking that this was an attempt to create a narrative is a failure of reading comprehension. This insistence that acknowledgement of facts has an ideological narrative is a pernicious strain of anti-science thinking.

annoyingnoob 8mo ago

There is still tons of tar on beaches in Santa Barbara county, mostly all from natural seeps.