Archinect - News

Oil company proposes turning L.A. oil-drilling site into affordable housing

2017-04-12T14:06:00-04:00

Sentinel Peak Resources, which took over the roughly 1.1-acre site in December, now believes that affordable housing is the “best beneficial use” for the land [...] Neighborhood leaders said they were interested in closing and re-purposing the site, but are awaiting more details. They stressed that regardless of any plans, they still want the city to pursue their concerns about violations at the site, which Sentinel Peak Resources has so far brushed off.

According to the L.A. Times, “No official plan has been drafted and details are scant, but [L.A. City Council President Herb] Wesson said he was ‘unbelievably excited’ about the idea, arguing it could pave the way to convert other local drilling sites.”

But converting the site — which is located at 4th Avenue and Washington Boulevard across the Carson-Gore Academy of Environmental Studies — could become pricey, and state regulators “caution against building over wells, warning that even a properly plugged well can leak in the future.”

How record low oil prices shape the fate of America's boomtown, Williston, North Dakota

2016-01-27T17:55:00-05:00

Now, after more than five flush years, oil prices are in a prolonged slump, the flow of workers has reversed [...] But Williston believes it can build something more enduring. [...] The city used its newfound wealth to build a $70-million high school, a $68-million recreation center, and new water and sewer systems. It renovated Main Street and created a city position for someone to write parking tickets. Highways have been widened, and an airport is under development.

California Farmers Using Oil Wastewater during Drought

2015-04-08T13:12:00-04:00

For every barrel of oil Chevron produces in its Kern River oil field, another 10 barrels of salty wastewater come up with it. So Chevron is selling about 500,000 barrels of water per day...back to...the local water district that delivers water to farmers within a seven-mile slice of Kern County...But it’s a risky dance; over time, high sodium can change the properties of the soil, making it impermeable, unable to take in any more water...Eventually, the soil becomes barren.

Have an idea for how to address the drought with design? Submit your ideas to the Dry Futures competition!

3,000+ Active Oil Wells in Los Angeles

2014-07-30T17:33:00-04:00

There are more than 3,000 active oil and gas wells in Los Angeles County. Almost 4,680 new wells were drilled in 2012 across the state, bringing the total number to 210,000, according to the Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources of the California Department of Conservation [...] Oil industry officials argue that drilling in California provides many economic benefits, and they downplay any potential health hazards.

If you want to explore the wells yourself, take a look at this map by the California Department of Conservation (via CurbedLA).

Student-designed floating islands could house Brazil's offshore oil workers

2014-02-25T19:18:00-05:00

Your assignment is to come up with an idea so revolutionary that it could be considered an important advance in industrial design. Students at Rice University in Houston accomplished that with plans for a floating city that is being considered by one of the world's largest oil companies. Last year, the students won the inaugural Odebrecht Award for a radical design of man-made floating islands where as many as 25,000 oil workers and their families could live.

Previously featured in our Student Works and Screen/Print series, "The Petropolis of Tomorrow" proposes a new style of floating company towns to aid Brazil in offshore oil findings. NPR now reports that the project has surpassed its academic role to be considered by Petrobas, a Brazilian oil company, as a potential solution for housing workers on man-made islands within the next five years.

Neeraj Bhatia, author of "Petropolis" and professor of the Rice University students who conceived of the project, is also co-editor of the upcoming Bracket 4 issue, [takes action]. [takes action] submissions are open until March 10.

Flush With Oil, Abu Dhabi Opens World's Largest Solar Plant

2013-03-19T16:45:00-04:00

Abu Dhabi, the most oil-rich of the United Arab Emirates, is now home to the world's single-largest concentrated solar power plant. The 100-megawatt Shams 1 plant cost an estimated $750 million and is expected to provide electricity to 20,000 homes, according to the BBC. Why, you might ask? Bloomberg says the less oil Abu Dhabi uses for local consumption, the more it can export.