America's Saudi Arabia-Sized Oilfield May Not Be What We Originally Thought

By Tyler Crowe – May 25, 2014 at 2:36PM

NYSE: OXY

Occidental Petroleum

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The massive quantities of oil in the Monterey shale oilfields in California may not be as accessible as we previously thought.

Anyone that thought California was on the precipice of another gold rush thanks to the Monterey shale's absolutely absurd amount of oil is probably a little discouraged right now. Despite there being over 400 billion barrels of oil in place there, the U.S. Energy Information Administration has recently revised its total economically recoverable barrels to only 600 million. This could be a major blow to Occidental Petroleum's (OXY 1.04%) plans to spin off its California business segment into a standalone business considering the amount of money it has dedicated to unconventional shale.

Find out why the EIA has cut its prospects for the Monterey shale by over 95% recently and how that will affect California's oil prospects in the future by tuning into the conversation between Fool.com contributor Tyler Crowe and Motley Fool Energy bureau chief Joel South in the video below.

Joel South has no position in any stocks mentioned. Tyler Crowe has no position in any stocks mentioned. You can follow them on Twitter @TMFEnergy and @TylerCroweFool, respectively.

The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.