August 2017 | www.santabarbarafamilylife.com | Santa Barbara Family & Life | 7
business & commerce
Venoco bankruptcy ends more than oil controversy people in its Carpinteria office and had 80 to 90 people out in the field, including those who had worked for ExxonMobil before Venoco took over the oil giant’s leases. Now, there are fewer than 20 employees left in Carpinteria, according to the company’s operations manager, Larry Huskins. Before the Refugio spill, he said, Venoco By Sam Goldman was consistently one of Santa Barbara CounNoozhawk ty’s top three tax generators. He put the total revenue the state has received in royalties at enoco Inc. has had an interesting over $150 million. relationship with the Santa Barbara According to the Santa Barbara County County community. Treasurer and Tax Collector’s Office, Venoco The Denver-based energy company has engenhas paid more than $20 million in property dered appreciation for its philanthropic involvetaxes going back to 2010. ment locally, but its operations have spawned “Venoco’s renowned from the state, as well concerns from residents opposed to oil developas the federal authorities, as one of the best ment in their environmentally sensitive backyard. operators in California,” Huskins said of his The company’s second bankruptcy filing, company’s safety standards and procedures. announced in April, effectively ended offshore Venoco’s community partnership manager, oil and gas drilling in the Santa Barbara ChanMarybeth Carty, described to Noozhawk a cornel’s state waters — as well as a steady stream Photos by Sam Goldman porate culture of volunteerism. Employees will of tax revenues and philanthropy. Oil continuously seeps up to the surface of the Santa Barbara Channel. Venoco officials say the natural process will worsen continue their volunteering and involvement with Dozens of jobs and plenty of tax revenue without drilling equipment to suck the oil out manually. nonprofit boards “right up into the bitter end,” are being lost, though the possibility of an oil she said, and Venoco would match employee doVenoco used the Plains All American pipeJust before initiating the bankruptcy spill or gas leak will be mitigated. nations and volunteer hours with its own dollars. The bankruptcy announcement came almost line to transport oil and gas to refineries, and process, Venoco quit-claimed its leases in the The company benefited Goleta Valley two years after the May 2015 rupture of a shutting down the pipeline curtailed more than channel back to the State Lands Commission, Cottage Hospital’s remodel and expansion, pipeline near Refugio State Beach that spilled 50 percent of its production. along with Platform Holly and its infrastructhe Boys & Girls Club of Santa Barbara, Girls more than 123,000 gallons of crude oil along ture of piers off the shores of Goleta. The company’s principal assets are oil facilithe coastline and into the ocean. VENOCO CONTINUED ON PAGE 9 At one point, Venoco employed about 80 ties offshore and onshore in Southern California.
Company was major source of tax revenue and philanthropy
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