R E N E WA B L E S
in the U.S., the state is also the third biggest producer of oil in the country, extracting roughly 200 million barrels per year. The rock formations that bear oil in the region also tend to harbor large volumes of brackish saltwater. The ratio of water to oil produced by operators in the region is, on average, ten to one. As Chevron recently explained,
the Kern River oilfield neatly illustrates the situation. Kern River is the secondhighest producing oilfield in California; moreover, for every barrel of oil, the field also produces around nine barrels of water. Almost 25 percent of this water is treated to remove solids as well as free, dispersed and dissolved 15