Planning and Partnerships

Running a major oilfield in the middle of a city requires formal planning, statutory compliance, and close coordination with neighbors, including one of the world’s busiest seaports.

Annual and Program Plans

In accordance with state law, the City prepares an Annual Plan of development, operations, and budget for the Long Beach Unit every year, and a five-year Program Plan every two years. Both must be approved by the California State Lands Commission. They are prepared jointly by City staff from the Energy & Environmental Services Department, the field contractor, and THUMS Long Beach Company.
The plans cover five budget categories: development drilling, operating expenses, facilities maintenance and plant, field labor and administrative costs, and taxes, permits, and overhead. These plans govern how the oilfield is managed and how public resources are invested.

Optimized Waterflood Program Agreements (OWPAs)

As the Wilmington Field aged and production declined in the 1990s and 2000s, the City developed a set of incentive agreements with the field contractor to encourage continued investment. Called Optimized Waterflood Program Agreements, or OWPAs, these arrangements allow the contractor to front all capital for new projects, recover those costs from incremental oil revenues, and then share in the net profits beyond the baseline.

The first OWPA was established for the Long Beach Unit in 1991. Additional agreements covering the West Wilmington area were put in place in the early 2010s. The production increases that followed generated significant additional revenue for the City and extended the productive life of the field.

Coordinating with the Port of Long Beach

Much of the Wilmington Oil Field underlies the Port of Long Beach, one of the nation’s busiest container ports and a vital driver of the regional economy. Because the City’s oil operations span dozens of sites within the Harbor District, major Port infrastructure projects regularly intersect with oilfield facilities.

The EES Department works under a current Memorandum of Understanding with the Harbor Department, signed in 2023, to coordinate long-term planning and manage well relocations when Port needs require it. Recent major projects requiring significant oilfield coordination include:

• Middle Harbor Redevelopment
• Gerald Desmond Bridge Replacement
• Pier B On-Dock Rail Support Facility
• Pier D Street Realignment
• Harbor Scenic Drive Roadway and Infrastructure Improvements
• Pier T Container Yard Redevelopment