WSPA, the Western States Petroleum Association, is the trade group representing the full spectrum of those companies engaged in the exploration, production, refining, transportation and marketing of petroleum products in the six western states of Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. The region produces about six percent of the country's crude oil needs and consumes about 15.5 percent of the petroleum used in the United States each year. Working with a small staff and guided by committees of member company representatives, WSPA commissions technical and economic research and provides information on industry and environmental issues to legislators, regulators, the media and the public. WSPA is supported by member company contributions. WSPA is the oldest petroleum trade association in the United States.

In California, the petroleum industry is one of the largest economic entities in the state and industry operations can be found in nearly every city and county. The industry directly employs over 110,000 people in California, and contributes hundreds of millions of dollars in royalty payments and taxes. The industry's presence includes the following:

Production
The "oil patch", where crude oil has been traditionally explored for and produced, encompasses much of Kern County in the San Joaquin Valley. Production activities are also located in Los Angeles, Long Beach, Orange County and along the central coast. Offshore production of oil and gas can also be found along the tri-county region of Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo, as well as a limited number of offshore platforms adjacent to Huntington Beach in southern California. On-shore production in California totals over 600,000 barrels of crude oil per day, and production from offshore totals over 300,000 barrels per day. The total number of offshore platforms in California is 23.

The federal government estimates that there are over 3.6 billion barrels of crude oil reserves in California, which compares to 22.5 billion barrels total reserves for the entire U.S.

Refining
To meet California's voracious demand for petroleum products, the industry operates some of the most technically sophisticated refineries in the world. Responsible for over 10% of the nations refined product supply, the refineries produce gasoline, diesel, aviation and jet fuel, coke, asphalt, lubricants and waxes. California refineries are best known for their production of cleaner-burning gasoline, which meets the most stringent emission reduction criteria in the U.S. The 1996 introduction of cleaner-burning gasoline is recognized as the biggest environmental program the state has undertaken in the last two decades, responsible for 25% of the state's clean air plan. The industry made over four billion dollars in investments to manufacture this fuel.

In mid-1999, the Governor ordered a phase out of a key oxygenate used by most refiners to manufacture cleaner burning gasoline to meet emission standards set by the state's Air Resource Board. The oxygenate, MTBE, had been discovered to be highly soluble in groundwater and had found its way into drinking water wells in several locations, requiring closure of the wells. The additional refinery investments required to replace MTBE and still meet clean air requirements have not yet been determined.

There are six refineries located in Southern California in the cities of Wilmington, Long Beach, Carson, Torrance and El Segundo. There are five refineries located in Northern California in the cities of Martinez, Benicia, Avon, Rodeo and Richmond. In addition, the industry operates refineries in Bakersfield and Santa Maria.

Transportation
Crude oil and petroleum products are transported in California primarily by pipelines, tanker trucks and marine tankers. There are hundreds of miles of underground pipelines that link both the production facilities with the refineries, as well as the refineries with marine tanker and distribution terminals. Marine tanker operations are located in the Ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach and El Segundo as well as the Port of San Francisco and in the East Bay in Northern California. Distribution terminals can be found at several locations in both Northern and Southern California.

Marketing
There are approximately 9,500 service stations in California that supply over 20 million registered vehicles. Service stations have three classes of trade; they are either owned or operated directly by the major refiners, or they are franchised/leased or owned and operated by independent dealers.

Environment
The petroleum industry operates under the most comprehensive and demanding environmental, health and safety regulations anywhere. Scores of state agencies enforce a daunting array of environmental laws and regulations covering every aspect of the industry from exploration for crude oil to the sale of finished products. In addition, petroleum activities are regulated by a variety of often overlapping federal and local regulations. The industry works to maintain the highest environmental, health and safety standards in its operations, employing hundreds of professionals specializing in these areas.

California Petroleum Trade Associations
In addition to WSPA, there are several other trade associations in California which represent specific segments of the industry. They include the following: