California Gas - Quo Vadis?

The supply of oil well gas has dropped sharply in southern California, and the supply of dry gas is barely holding its own in northern California—in the face of an unprecedented national shortage. Why this dismal picture? What, if anything, are the gas distributors, Los Angeles City Council, the Public Utilities Commission, Supervisor of Oil and Gas, the State Lands Commission, or the Secretary of the Interior doing to help? Natural Gas Supply (a) Average Daily Supply Although the first supplies of out-of-state gas did not arrive in California until 1947 (Southern California) and 1949 (Northern California), and the first supplies of Canadian gas did not arrive until 1961 (Northern California), out-of-state and Canadian gas supplies account for over 75% of the State's gas consumption. Today, only about 20% of the State's supply comes from California produced gas sources: about 25% in Northern California, and only about 16% in Southern California. Southern California (1971)* Approximate % Of Sources of Supply (Bcf) Mcf/Day Total California Gas Regular Purchases 133,810 366,600 11.9% Exchange Gas 33,056 90,600 2.9 Federal Offshore 15,545 42,600 1.4 Total California 182,411 499,800 16.2% PG and E Purchases 58,780 161,000 5.2% El Paso 608,830 1,668,000 54.2 Transwestern 273,798 750,100 24.4 Total 1,123,819 3,078,900 100.0% Northern California (1971) Approximate % Of Sources of Supply (Bcf) Mcf/Day Total California 258,064 707,000 25.5% PGT (Canada) 341,287 935,000 33.7 El Paso 414,231 1,134,900 40.8 Total 1,013,582 2,776,900 100.0% (b) Type of Supply Generally speaking, the available supplies of California produced gas may be divided into two categories: