LA - The Urban Oilfield

It's interesting if you weren't aware of the oil fields in LA to see the extent to which they are still a large part of the city - though some are much more hidden than others.
The ViceTV video is interesting for some of the oil drilling locations it shows (Beverly Center) - though the narration isn't all that genius "except now no one sees what's happening underground"
Via Fast Company




Gushing About L.A.'s Cleverly-Disguised Urban Oil Fields: "

Anyone who arrives at Los Angeles International Airport is immediately introduced to our oil wells, a series of slow-moving creatures nodding throughout the hills heading down into the basin. But those highly-visible pumpjacks are only the tip of the Texas tea, as it were. L.A. has 41 lesser-known active oil fields in the city--and one famous one, the La Brea Tar Pits--pumping more than 20 million barrels out of our palm-fringed streets annually.

VBS.tv, the video channel for Vice, visits several of L.A.'s best in-plain-view sites (most, in an interesting coincidence, are located beneath what are now shopping malls), as well as a smaller, privately-owned well. For perspective, however, check out an overlay map of the 100+ Los Angeles wells 103 years ago.

[VBS.tv and Design Observer]

"