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california - THUMS

In 2000, Occidental acquired the THUMS operation in Long Beach, California, which encompasses a portion of the giant Wilmington field. Discovered in 1932, the field originally held more than 7 billion barrels of heavy crude oil.

Built to resemble resort islands to blend in with the surrounding coastal environment, THUMS is a model operation that demonstrates how technology can be used to mitigate the impact of oil operations on sensitive environments. THUMS was the first operation to inject reclaimed city water to maintain reservoir pressure. In addition, THUMS is an industry leader in the use of electric submersible pumps. Today Occidental operates a 46-megawatt power plant to reduce THUMS’ exposure to volatile power prices. (THUMS derived its name from the original consortium of Texaco, Humble, Unocal, Mobil and Shell that operated the field.)

The islands, Grissom, White, Chaffee and Freeman, were named after the first astronauts who died in the line of duty early in the U.S. space program. Located between a few hundred yards to 1.5 miles offshore in Long Beach Harbor, they provide a safe haven of dry land from which more than 1,200 wells have been drilled.

Under the terms of an innovative partnership agreement between THUMS Long Beach, the city of Long Beach and the state of California, drilling rigs and other above-ground equipment are disguised, camouflaged, and sound-proofed. Wellheads, and pipelines are located below ground level to ensure that the islands enhance the appearance of both harbor and skyline.

The islands were constructed using 640,000 tons of boulders and 3.2 million cubic yards of sand. The boulders, weighing up to five tons each, rest on the shallow harbor bottom and form a perimeter for each island. Freeman is the largest island, encompassing about 12 acres, the other three islands are approximately 10 acres each.

An elaborate irrigation system keeps more than 700 palm trees alive in the unusual island soil. Oil drilling derricks are sound-proofed and camouflaged to resemble high-rise apartments. Abstract sculptures and waterfalls, some as high as 45 feet, are offset by attractive landscaping and colorful night lighting.

This blend of oil and gas production with visual appeal and environmental safety has won THUMS dozens of design and engineering awards from city, state and national groups for environmental protection, community beautification and outstanding design.