Environment · 2026-11-02 · Afternoon briefing

Los Angeles bans oil drilling with 20-year phase-out

Los Angeles has become the first city in the country to ban oil drilling, approving an ordinance that will phase out all existing extraction over the next 20 years. The decision, which follows more than a decade of campaigning by residents, immediately halts new drilling and affects hundreds of active and thousands of inactive wells, many located in working-class neighbourhoods.

An earlier attempt to pass the ban in 2022 was successfully challenged in court by industry groups, but subsequent state legislation empowered the city to proceed. The California Independent Petroleum Association maintains the ordinance is an “unlawful taking of private property.” The move comes as the region’s output continues its long decline; production in the LA Basin is already 43% lower than it was eight years ago.

The focus now shifts to decommissioning. About 80% of idle wells in Los Angeles have been inactive for over eight years, with a third dormant for more than a century. A report by Carbon Tracker estimates that even if all future profits from oil operations in California went to plugging wells, the state would still face a $7 billion shortfall.

Summary written by Cup of News with AI from the sources below. Check the originals for the full story.

Read the sources

• Los Angeles bans oil extraction within the city — Deutsche Welle
• Los Angeles Bans New Oil Wells, Orders Phaseout of Old Ones
• LA unanimously OKs oil-drilling ban, 20-year phaseout
• Los Angeles ends oil production in the city after more than a decade of struggle
• LA Council approves proposed ordinance to reinstate 2022 ban on oil drilling

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