History/Geology
With oil seeps visible in areas around Southern California, speculators thought that "black gold" might be found in large enough quantities to make them wealthy. By 1866, traces of oil were found in nearby Tonner Canyon, but early drilling attempts produced mostly "dry holes." It took extensive exploration in Puente Hills and Brea Canyon by companies like Union Oil to find commercially viable amounts of oil. By 1895 over 30 wells were established near the future Brea area, producing a total of 700 barrels of oil a day.
In 1910, oilman William Loftus commented, "The Olinda-Fullerton field is considered the best in the state, which means the best in the United States."
Natural seeps are formed when oil migrates from the subsurface to the surface, generally along fractures in rock through the connecting openings in the sedimentary rock layers. Once liquid petroleum reaches the surface and meets the atmosphere, it distills and becomes more like tar (the word "brea").
Surface brea seeps like this were "drill here" signboards for early oil-finders to the occurrence of larger petroleum deposits (pools) in the subsurface below. Long before the commercial search for petroleum, local natives and later, settlers, used such brea seeps as a source of pitch for a variety of water-proofing applications.
The Brea-Olinda Oil Field runs about 7 miles along the Puente Hills north of Brea and consisted of three segments: the Puente Hills on the west, Brea in the middle, and Olinda in the east end, which is the oldest major commercially productive oil field in the Southern California area. The Puente was discovered in circa 1880, the Olinda in circa 1897, and the Brea in circa 1899 as evidenced by drilling of first wells in these areas respectively. In time, this field became one of 20 major producers in the state. Producing cells can be seen today by traveling north through Brea Canyon Road or going eastward from Brea on Birch Street to Carbon Canyon Road then to Carbon Canyon Regional Park, which is in the vicinity of the Olinda Field.
To log a find:
Determine which oil field you are currently standing in of the three
In which direction lie active wells? (Hint: there can be more than one direction, look around)
Enjoy the History!