Sign In

An Extensive Run of California's Primary Statistical and Technical Petroleum Journal

Profusely Illustrated with Folding Map of Oil and Gas Fields and Prospects

Summary of Operations, California Oil Fields was the principal statistical and technical record of the state’s petroleum industry for more than half a century. First issued in 1915-16 as the Report of the State Oil and Gas Supervisor, it evolved into a serial whose “advance chapters” were released monthly beginning in April 1919 and later gathered into semi-annual or annual bound volumes. The present collection includes 84 individual numbers from the series.

Responsibility for the series moved with successive reorganizations of the state’s natural-resources bureaucracy—from the State Mining Bureau’s Department of Petroleum and Gas (1915-1927) to the Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Mines and Mining (1927-1929) and, after July 1929, the Division of Oil and Gas. Publication under the title Summary of operations under the California Division of Oil and Gas continued through Volume 59 (1973), after which the material was rebranded as the Annual Report of the State Oil and Gas Supervisor and, today, appears electronically from CalGEM. 

Each issue combined regulatory reporting with hands-on field intelligence. Standard sections listed wildcat wells, new pool discoveries, drilling depths, casing records, production and injection statistics, notable abandonments, accidents, and enforcement actions. Feature articles analyzed individual fields, often accompanied by fold-out base maps, structure contour diagrams, cross-sections, and stratigraphic charts. Shorter notes tracked advances in drilling technology, secondary recovery tests, and developments in reservoir engineering. By the early 1950s, the scope had expanded to include natural gas storage and, later, geothermal operations. Indexed tables and annual summaries made the series an indispensable reference for operators, bankers, and geologists evaluating California prospects, while its consistent format enables modern researchers to reconstruct long-term trends in one of the world’s most intensively studied petroleum provinces.

According to OCLC the publication history of this serial was as follows: Formerly issued as Annual Report of the State Oil and Gas Supervisor of California for the fiscal year, July 1918 / Mar. 1919; then as an annual, with monthly installments, Apr. 1919 - June 1929; then annual, with quarterly installments, July/Sept. 1929 - Apr./June 1939; then simply annual again, July 1939 - Dec. 1941; then annual, with semiannual installments, Jan./June 1942 - 1970; finally annual, 1970 - 1973.

Rarity

While individual numbers and annual volumes appear occasionally on the market, a run of this length is quite rare.

Collection comprises the following numbers:

1. Vol. 5, No. 8 (Feb. 1920)
2. Vol. 7, No. 7 (Jan. 1922)
3. Vol. 7, No. 11 (May 1922)
4. Vol. 8, No. 3 (Sept. 1922) - wrappers detached.
5. Vol. 8, No. 11 (May 1923)
6. Vol. 8, No. 4 (Oct. 1922)
7. Vol. 9, No. 3 (Sept. 1923) - wrapper detached
8. Vol. 9, No. 6 (Dec. 1923)
9. Vol. 9, No. 7 (Jan. 1924)
10. Vol. 9, No. 8 (Feb. 1924)
11. Vol. 9, No. 9 (March 1924)
12. Vol. 9, No. 10 (April 1924)
13. Vol. 9, No. 11 (May 1924)
14. Vol. 10, No. 1 (July, 1924) - wrapper tape-repaired, detached
15. Vol. 10, No. 2 (Aug. 1924)
16. Vol. 10, No. 4 (Oct. 1924)
17. Vol. 10, No. 5 (Nov. 1924)
18. Vol. 10, No. 8 (Feb. 1925)
19. Vol. 10, No. 11 (May 1925)
20. Vol. 11, No. 1 (July 1925)
21. Vol. 11, No. 2 (Aug. 1925) - cover torn and detached
22. Vol. 11, No. 3 (Sept. 1925) - cover detached
23. Vol. 11, No. 4 (Oct. 1925)
24. Vol. 11, No. 5 (Nov. 1925)
25. Vol. 11, No. 9 (March 1926) - wrappers torn
26. Vol. 11, No. 10 (April 1926)
27. Vol. 11, No. 11 (May 1926)
28. Vol. 12, No. 1 (July 1926)
29. Vol. 12, No. 7 (Jan. 1927)
30. Vol. 12, No. 10 (April 1927)
31. Vol. 12, No. 12 (June 1927)
32. Vol. 13, No. 3 (Sept. 1927)
33. Vol. 13, No. 7 (Jan. 1928) - 
34. Vol. 13, No. 8. (Feb. 1928)
35. Vol. 14, No. 1 (July 1928)
36. Vol. 14, No. 7 (Jan. 1929)
37. Vol. 14, No. 9 (March 1929) - wrapper torn 
38. Vol. 15, No. 2 (Oct., Nov., Dec. 1929)
39. Vol. 15, No. 3 (Jan., Feb., March 1930)
40. Vol. 15, No. 4 (April, May, June 1930)
41. Vol. 16, No. 2 (Oct., Nov., Dec. 1930)
42. Vol. 16, No. 3 (Jan., Feb. March 1931)
43. Vol. 16, No. 4. (April, May, June 1931)
44. Vol. 17, No. 2 (Oct., Nov., Dec. 1931)
45. Vol. 17, No. 3 (Jan., Feb., March 1932)
46. Vol. 17, No. 4 (April, May, June 1932)
47. Vol. 18, No. 1 (July, Aug., Sept. 1932)
48. Vol. 18, No. 2 (Oct., Nov., Dec. 1932) 
49. Vol. 18, No. 4 (April, May, June 1933)
50. Vol. 19, No. 2 (Oct., Nov., Dec. 1933)
51. Vol. 19, No. 4 (April, May, June 1934)
52. Vol. 20, No. 2 (Oct., Nov., Dec. 1934)
53. Vol. 20, No. 3 (Jan., Feb., March 1935)
54. Vol. 20, No. 4 (April, May, June 1935)
55. Vol. 21, No. 2 (Oct., Nov., Dec. 1935)
56. Vol. 21, No. 4 (April, May, June 1936)
57. Vol. 22, No. 1 (July, Aug., Sept. 1936)
58. Vol. 22, No. 2 (Oct., Nov., Dec. 1936)
59. Vol. 22, No. 4 (April, May, June 1937)
60. Vol. 23, No. 1 (July, Aug., Sept. 1937)
61. Vol. 23, No. 4 (April, May, June1938)
62. Vol. 24, No. 1 (July, Aug., Sept. 1938)
63. Vol. 24, No. 2 (Oct., Nov., Dec. 1938)
64. Vol. 24, No. 3 (Jan., Feb., Mar. 1939)
65. Vol. 24, No. 4 (April, May, June 1939)
66. Vol. 25 (July 1939 - June 1940)
67. Vol. 26 (July 1940 - June 1941)
68. Vol. 27 (Jan 1 - Dec. 31, 1941)
69. Vol. 28, No. 1 (Jan. - June 1942)
70. Vol. 28, No. 2 (July - Dec. 1942)
71. Vol. 29, No. 1 (Jan. - June 1943)
72. Vol. 29, No. 2 (July - Dec. 1943)
73. Vol. 30, No. 1 (Jan. - June 1944)
74. Vol. 30, No. 2 (July - Dec. 1944)
75. Vol. 31, No. 1 (Jan. - June 1945)
76. Vol. 31, No. 2 (July - Dec, 1945)
77. Vol. 32, No. 1 (Jan. - June 1946)
78. Vol. 32, No. 2 (July - Dec. 1946)
79. Vol. 33, No. 1 (Jan. - June 1947)
80. Vol. 33, No. 2 (July - Dec. 1947)
81. Vol. 34, No. 1 (Jan. - June 1948)
82. Vol. 34, No. 2 (July - Dec. 1948)
83. Vol. 35, No. 1 (Jan. - June 1949)
84. Vol. 35, No. 2 (July - Dec. 1949)
85. Vol. 36, No. 1 (Jan. - June 1950)
86. Vol. 36, No. 2 (July - Dec. 1950)