Lakeview Gusher #1

Lakeview Gusher #1. . , On March 15, 1910, at a depth of 2,225 feet, Lakeview #1 blew in. Union Oil was the Producer. Flowing at an estimated rate of 18,000 barrels a day, the oil demolished the derrick. Sand covered the engine house and bunkhouses. , , Men worked around the clock building a barricade of sandbags surrounding the well while teams and scrapers built 20 huge sumps covering over 60 acres. This was not only for recovery purposes, but to keep the oil from flowing into Buena Vista Lake, a source of irrigation for Miller and Lux Farms, 8 miles away. , , At its peak, the uncontrolled flow reached an estimated 90,000 barrels a day. It flowed for 544 days. , , "Lakeview #1 produced an estimated 9 million barrels of oil, a record not yet equaled by any other well in California. The rescue operation recovered more than 4 million barrels; the remainder was lost." , , Julius Fried, a local grocer, started the Lakeview Oil Company, but it was undercapitalized. Neighboring Union Oil Company agreed that for 51% of the capital stock and 4 of 7 seats on the board of directors, Union would drill the well when their crews were available, for they wanted the property as a site for storage tanks for the Producer's Pipeline then being built.