Magazine content is available exclusively for TIME subscribers.Black-Gold Rush
A vast discovery off California
In May 1981, Phillips Petroleum Co. and Chevron U.S.A., a subsidiary of Standard Oil Co. of California, paid a record $333.6 million for the right to explore for oil on a single 5,700-acre offshore tract in the Santa Maria basin off Point Arguello, Calif. Now that money looks like the down payment on a bonanza. Last month Phillips and Chevron announced that a test well had brought in a gusher, and expectations were heightened by several other successful drillings near by. Then last week Texaco confirmed the existence...
To read the entire article, you must be a TIME subscriber. Already registered? Sign in below
Current print subscribers to register
Subscribe now to get TIME All Access
Email, Password or Region is incorrect
A required form parameter was missing.
The System is currently down. Please try again in a few minutes.
Email Address is invalid
Password is blank
Most Popular »
- The 2012 World Press Photo of the Year
- Top 10 Celebrity Restaurants
- Jimmy Stewart: A Hero Home From the War
- Why Is Your Boss Moving to Brazil?
- Who Qualifies for the $26 Billion Foreclosure Settlement?
- Facing the Challenge of China, Should India Embrace the U.S.?
- A Record of China’s Changing Coastlines
- The Art of Nazi Hunting: How Israel's Mossad Found Adolf Eichmann
- Oscars 2012: Great Performances
- The Foreclosure Deal: Obama and the Banks Win Big While Homeowners See Modest Reward
- Why Is Your Boss Moving to Brazil?
- The Upside Of Being An Introvert (And Why Extroverts Are Overrated)
- The Second Coming of Warren Jeffs: The Jailed Polygamist Leader Prepares His Flock for Doomsday
- Why Mario Monti Is the Most Important Man in Europe
- Lessons Unlearned: Why Another Gigantic Famine Looms in Africa
- Social Issues Overtake U.S. Politics
- The Brain: How The Brain Rewires Itself
- Can Israel Stop Iran's Nuke Effort?
- I Hope I Die Before I Have to Live with Old People
- A Monk's Struggle
More News from Our Partners
Top Stories on TIME.com
Quotes of the Day »
MUKHTAR ABU AL-ZUBAIR, leader of the Somali al-Shabaab rebel movement, pledging their allegiance to al-Qaeda in an audio message posted on the al-Shabaab website
