According to state data, California’s oil well drilling came to a halt as the state stalls on granting new drilling permits.
The state’s Geologic Energy Management Division, known as CalGEM, has approved seven new active well permits in 2023. That compares with the more than 200 it had issued last year.
The stalled approvals represent the latest tension between California’s bold environmental ambitions and its major oil and gas producer and consumer role.
Since Gavin Newsom became governor in 2019, new drilling permits have steadily declined, but the current approval rate represents a sudden and dramatic drop.
“It’s just fallen off the cliff,” Rock Zierman, chief executive of the California Independent Petroleum Association (CIPA), said in an interview. He said the industry has more than 1,400 permit applications for new wells awaiting CalGEM approval, half of which are more than a year old.
