Long Beach, CA Travel, Photos Information and News

Long Beach Municipal Marina is claimed to be the largest municipal marina in the U.S. When you compare it side by side to neighboring San Pedro (part of the city of Los Angeles,) where slips number over 3,000, Long Beach's 4,000 or so, you realize that this is one of the most amazing, ocean-loving spots in the nation. It is no wonder that boating, ocean fishing sports, and the love of the great outdoors all play such a large part in the lives of many Californians--and their guests.

Shown in the photo is a sailboat in the Long Beach bay. Behind it shown in the setting sun is THUMS oil field island.

Occidental Long Beach Inc. (OLBI) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum Corp which is the field Contractor for the Long Beach Unit (LBU), the eastern offshore portion of the Wilmington Field.

Designed by Disney to look like a vacation land, this commercial/industrial facility is a landmark in the bay. THUMS is an acronym for major oil firms participating in the decades-old venture. THUMS Long Beach Company (named for the original Field Contractors: Texaco, Humble, Union, Mobil, and Shell) is the agent for OLBI.

In 1964 four man-made islands, named after the astronauts that lost their lives during the early years of the U.S. space exploration (Grissom, White, Chaffee, and Freeman), were built. Pier J was expanded into the Long Beach Harbor to develop the LBU. Approximately 1,450 wells have been drilled. The Long beach Unit began water flooding at start-up to help prevent subsidence. Today, Wilmington Field oil production is approximately 46,000 barrels per day from 1,550 active wells.

Long Beach marinas are divided into several sections with one being at Rainbow Harbor overlooking the Queen Mary, and another section located around Alamitos Bay on the southern border where Long Beach touches the Orange County border line.