City of Los Angeles looking to phase out urban oil drilling

Los Angeles is taking a major step toward reinstating a citywide phase-out of urban oil drilling, with city leaders saying it's a fight that has been years in the making.

Neighbors near oil drilling say they face noise, odors, truck traffic, health concerns, and daily disruption. During a Tuesday news conference led by LA Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky and Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson, advocates held up signs that read, "Wilmington will not be fooled."

Yaroslavsky said that there are still thousands of active oil wells in the city, and they aren't all in plain sight. "Some are tucked behind walls, some are disguised as ordinary buildings,"

In 2022, the city council voted to prohibit new oil and gas extraction and phase out existing oil drilling citywide. The oil industry went to court, where the ordinance was overturned.

Then, in 2024, state law AB 3233 was adopted, clarifying that cities and counties have the authority to restrict or prohibit oil and gas operations \within their jurisdictions to protect public health and the environment.

"The burden of neighborhood oil drilling has fallen hardest on Black, Latino, and low-income communities," Yaroslavsky said.

"They kept showing up because they believe that their communities deserve better and that no one should have to live next to an active oil drill site."

Four years later, the item is on the council docket for consideration, making existing extraction activities throughout the city nonconforming uses in all zones, with termination to occur within 20 years.

"We now are on the path to ending neighborhood drilling, and ending as acceptable the notion that people have to wear masks on a day-to-day basis just to be in their own backyards in communities that there is drilling," Harris-Dawson said.

The Ordinance exempts from its requirements wells operated by a public utility regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission.

Tuesday's council actions include requesting that the city attorney prepare a draft ordinance for the council's consideration. 

Western States Petroleum Association sent the following emailed statement: 

 "Policies impacting the entire state's fuel supply should be implemented though a coordinated, systemwide approach, not piecemeal local regulations that make energy less affordable and reliable."