The Fake Buildings That Hide LA’s Massive Oil Industry

Поделиться
HTML-код
  • Опубликовано: 12 янв 2022
  • Sign up for Morning Brew's free daily newsletter: bit.ly/mbhalfasinteresting5
    Get a Half as Interesting t-shirt: standard.tv/collections/half-...
    Suggest a video and get a free t-shirt if we use it: halfasinteresting.com/suggest
    Follow Sam from Half as Interesting on Instagram: / sam.from.wendover
    Follow Half as Interesting on Twitter: / halfinteresting
    Discuss this video on Reddit: / halfasinteresting
    Video written by Ben Doyle
    Check out my other channel: / wendoverproductions

Комментарии • 1,9 тыс.

  • @zacharyjensen7661
    @zacharyjensen7661 2 года назад +4647

    Imagine breaking into a house, planning to steal some valuables, but instead finding an electrical substation.

    • @ashmellow78
      @ashmellow78 2 года назад +384

      steal the electrical substation

    • @chrisbourque8196
      @chrisbourque8196 2 года назад +92

      You seem to have mistaken Toronto for an American city ;)

    • @gearloose703
      @gearloose703 2 года назад +137

      With the price of copper today, gutting transformers is way better business than breaking into pretty much anything else.

    • @ZaHandle
      @ZaHandle 2 года назад +57

      imagine breaking into a house and just seeing 2 electricians slacking off in there with a substation behind them

    • @TehKaiser
      @TehKaiser 2 года назад +8

      Texas has those.

  • @AGDinCA
    @AGDinCA 2 года назад +8192

    LOL! Those floating oil platforms off the coast of Long Beach are literally called The Oil Islands. We all know they are pumping oil, but the islands do look rather nice from a distance. However, if you drive your boat up close to one if the islands, you'll see some gross foam in the water.

    • @alexander-mauricemillamlae4567
      @alexander-mauricemillamlae4567 2 года назад +978

      Why didn't you guys call it The Oilands

    • @noisycarlos
      @noisycarlos 2 года назад +732

      @@alexander-mauricemillamlae4567 that's how Scottish people say islands anyway

    • @polishsmolish19
      @polishsmolish19 2 года назад +102

      Yeah from Long Beach you can see them right from the beach

    • @GringoLocoo_
      @GringoLocoo_ 2 года назад +20

      @@noisycarlos lmao

    • @Djuntas
      @Djuntas 2 года назад +160

      Arent they litterally ruining the beach and water then?

  • @taliwalt5332
    @taliwalt5332 2 года назад +777

    I grew up two blocks from that "beige rectangle" and only recently discovered that my parents still receive quarterly checks because that kept the mineral rights when they sold my childhood home. So weird.

    • @443DM
      @443DM 2 года назад +8

      how much is it every quarter?

    • @geton9882
      @geton9882 2 года назад +1

      Very cool

    • @klayman2
      @klayman2 2 года назад +38

      @@443DM depends how much is pumped out, when i was in Texas we got $300 every quarter for our rights

    • @johndc2998
      @johndc2998 2 года назад

      @@breakingthemasks 😂😂😂

    • @KB-ke3fi
      @KB-ke3fi 2 года назад +40

      @@klayman2 yeah us too here in west TX. we have 8,000 acres with 37 pumps. Most of it is sold to California refiners because it's closer to Long Beach than Houston. Ours was $1,500 each well per year...so about $55,000 a year lease and the federal tax rate was high, but Biden administration made us cap the drilling when he got in office and put everyone out of work, so now nothing for us and the government gets no tax money, and now Long Beach has to get oil from overseas at a much higher rate and the oil is dirty oil and takes a lot more money to refine as opposed to Texas sweet crude which is cheap to refine, so the refineries have to pollute more to refine the dirty a$$ foreign oil so the price goes way up for gasoline and plastics because they don't use Texas crude anymore.

  • @Unownshipper
    @Unownshipper 2 года назад +3956

    My personal favorite is cell phone towers disguised as trees. They're always about 3-4 times taller than all the trees around them, and stand out as awkwardly as an undercover narcotics cop at a rave, but there's something hilariously charming about these failed attempts to blend in.
    Edit: Wow, this is undoubtedly my most liked and replied to comment I've ever made on RUclips. And it's not even specifically about the video's subject. I guess people just really have thoughts on monopoles. Thanks everyone!

    • @TheAtomBuilds
      @TheAtomBuilds 2 года назад +178

      Ya and they have like four branches at the top

    • @Kamushy
      @Kamushy 2 года назад +29

      they have these in aus too they look really dumb

    • @j-network1214
      @j-network1214 2 года назад +31

      the ones around here are made to look like palm trees, but only so much as I can tell what they are supposed to look like

    • @DanburyDK
      @DanburyDK 2 года назад +7

      I noticed these years ago in Connecticut. Also flagpole antennas.

    • @SoCalSeaChaser
      @SoCalSeaChaser 2 года назад +17

      I think it’s in El Monte, but there’s one that someone put the branches on a “pine tree” wrong, so it looks like an upside down triangle 😆

  • @yeri786
    @yeri786 2 года назад +5689

    I live a few blocks away from one of those oil drilling sites. Yes, it's ugly, but the good news for home owners is that the oil company who owns it must transport their oil from the well to a refinery using pipes. When those pipes go through your property, they have to pay your "rent" for the privilege of using your land. The amount they pay is proportionate to oil prices: high prices mean they may be paying hundreds or thousands of dollars. Pretty nice side income for doing nothing.

    • @EebstertheGreat
      @EebstertheGreat 2 года назад +721

      In Ohio, they just buy your mineral/subsurface rights. But they don't buy them from you, because you never had them; somebody else sold those rights long ago, so they didn't come with the house when you bought it.

    • @jarjarbinks6018
      @jarjarbinks6018 2 года назад +123

      I suppose that would offset the potential impact oil rigs have on home values

    • @depressed.lemonade
      @depressed.lemonade 2 года назад +77

      passive income 😈

    • @User31129
      @User31129 2 года назад +168

      Kind of like being a farmer and letting the power company put wind turbines on your land. I'd do that if I was a farmer.

    • @yeri786
      @yeri786 2 года назад +88

      @@User31129 I think that's a fair comparison if you tweak it slightly. You've already got wind turbines up when you bought the property and just inherit then rights to the profits from them. It's a sweet deal unless you want to, say, put in a pool which would require digging up the yard, but you can't because the oil pipe is in the way and it can't be moved.

  • @johnfromthewest
    @johnfromthewest 2 года назад +3625

    So interesting side note, not all of the oil rigs are hidden, especially in east L.A. it's really not weird to see totally normal looking oil rigs

    • @grovermatic
      @grovermatic 2 года назад +34

      Now I've got the Cheech Marin song playing in my head. :-P

    • @mikebar42
      @mikebar42 2 года назад +20

      Do u know what happens if they have a blowout in the building?

    • @albear972
      @albear972 2 года назад +97

      Yeah, because wealthy people don't live in East LA ese!

    • @ronaldweasley6175
      @ronaldweasley6175 2 года назад +21

      yep. lots of oil rigs east and northeast of mirror park

    • @mikebar42
      @mikebar42 2 года назад +5

      @@grovermatic low ride ER

  • @WSleeman
    @WSleeman 2 года назад +139

    As a local pilot, we actually use a lot of these as visual reference points to tell ATC where we are. They tend to be fairly large structures that stand out well from the air, but a lot of the other local pilots I've chatted with don't realise why.

  • @ice319
    @ice319 2 года назад +33

    3:22 I'm a supervisor for the New York Subway. I've been to this building before. It is literally a shell of a building over the ventilation. It blew my mind when I first started working here and I was shown it. BTW, we in NYC pronounce it Joral-Lemon St, not Jor-a-lemon lol

  • @jerry3790
    @jerry3790 2 года назад +1898

    This is like when you build a city in Civ V but then after oil is revealed on the map it turns out that your city is on top of it

    • @ValiantValium
      @ValiantValium 2 года назад +106

      "I know we got like 12 pop here, but in 10 turns, all of you will have become settlers, or else."

    • @Deilwynna
      @Deilwynna 2 года назад +109

      in civ 6, if you place a district on a hex that later is revealed to have a late game resource, it automatically gathers that resource when its discovered with the district remaining in place. doesnt matter if its the city center district, cultural wonder or even a housing district, it will still automatically work the resource when it pops up under it

    • @MrGilang100
      @MrGilang100 2 года назад +28

      @@Deilwynna well, like this video then.

    • @p00bix
      @p00bix 2 года назад +21

      Iraq IRL
      It sucks how badly Iraq got fucked over by Colonialism, Poverty, the Saddam Regime, and War. Basra could scarcely be more perfectly positioned to among the world's great metropolises.

    • @yusufhanif3704
      @yusufhanif3704 2 года назад +13

      Basra was one of the world’s greatest metropolises, I believe sometime right after WW2 Ireland was actually poorer than Iraq. Colonialism, foreign, and internal agendas messed that all up and on top of that Iraqis will have to deal with climate change, dwindling water resources, dying rivers, and desertification. There few countries my heart hurts harder for than Iraq.

  • @ryanm.191
    @ryanm.191 2 года назад +3681

    In Switzerland, especially along the borders, there are fake barns/chalets/houses that are actually armoury stores, artillery guns or other military supplies. They’re disguised to blend into and some actually have slightly transparent windows and you can see into them
    Edit: you can tell which ones have artillery guns, they have a strong concrete lower floor, and the windows are the holes they stick the barrel through

    • @xX_MC_OvU_PvP_YT_Xx
      @xX_MC_OvU_PvP_YT_Xx 2 года назад +337

      Round these parts brother you just go to any old Walmart and they'll have the same supplies

    • @Carewolf
      @Carewolf 2 года назад +180

      Well, they are not designed that way to look pretty, but to confuse any particularly confused french army that accidentality invades.

    • @jabber1990
      @jabber1990 2 года назад +4

      That's cool. Other countries should take note

    • @R_V_
      @R_V_ 2 года назад +31

      Yes, for example "The Tim Traveller" made a video on a fort disguised as a house on the road between Geneva and Nyon.

    • @tenalafel
      @tenalafel 2 года назад +10

      they also have airbases disguised as motorway tunnels and so many bunkers disguised as other things that's difficult to count them all.

  • @AwokenEntertainment
    @AwokenEntertainment 2 года назад +153

    I always knew those windowless buildings in the middle of the city were sus..
    people don't really think of LA as an oil hub - but growing up I had a family friend whose wealth came from their grandpa striking oil by surprise in his backyard.. they never had to work a day in their lives

    • @Tubes12AX7k
      @Tubes12AX7k 11 месяцев назад

      'Oil, that is. Black gold. Texas tea...'

  • @brookeking8559
    @brookeking8559 2 года назад +38

    In New England many cell phone ground stations are inside the steeples of old churches on hills. If the church didn’t have an adequate steeple for the purpose or had no steeple, the ground station operator paid to construct what’s needed. The ground station operators pay handsome rent to the churches whose steeples they utilize.

    • @leerman22
      @leerman22 2 года назад +4

      lol they pay rent to god, in a manner of speaking

  • @gNatflaps
    @gNatflaps 2 года назад +555

    if you’ve ever driven from LAX to hollywood on city streets you’ll also see just the massive, still out in the open oil fields dotting the hillside

    • @THRDNL
      @THRDNL 2 года назад +15

      well that’s kenneth hahn for ya 🤷‍♂️

    • @gNatflaps
      @gNatflaps 2 года назад +1

      @@Stevie-J would you walk the 2 and a half miles across the inglewood oil fields?

    • @zonaryorange8734
      @zonaryorange8734 2 года назад +3

      @@THRDNL underrated park imo, but i’m glad the oil fields keep people away because the views on that park are phenomenal

    • @tfinkens
      @tfinkens 2 года назад +1

      you seem them through the north side of ORange county, as well.

    • @RONPEE-STINGER
      @RONPEE-STINGER 2 года назад

      In watts too

  • @vale.antoni
    @vale.antoni 2 года назад +737

    London doesn't only have vents for the tube, they have entire plots bought to have open tunnels on, where the smoke could exit the system (from back when they had steam locomotives pulling the carriages in a pretty enclosed tunnel). And for it not to be just a hole between 2 Victorian houses with TRAINS going up and down, they put up Victorian looking hose facades made of essentially cardboard (Same idea as seen in Coyote and the Roadrunner)

    • @Lemonaitor
      @Lemonaitor 2 года назад +42

      the lie of leinster gardens! I was so disappointed Sam didn't mention this.

    • @xander1052
      @xander1052 2 года назад +7

      @@Lemonaitor same, there's also all the ventillation shafts for the central line and co. dotting the streets of central london.

    • @PhilLesh69
      @PhilLesh69 2 года назад +25

      Most cities also put transformers, telephone switches and other public utilities in buildings that look exactly like all the other neighboring buildings. For years I thought a house near mine was really just a house, but one day as I was walking my dog I caught a peek inside as a Pepco utility worker pulled his truck into the garage and I could see there was no wall between the garage and the house, and all kinds of transformers and big cables.
      They even built light boxes around the front windows which had curtains and everything, so they could have lights go on an off to make it look lived in.

    • @pwhnckexstflajizdryvombqug9042
      @pwhnckexstflajizdryvombqug9042 2 года назад +11

      He didn't mention the London building because it's probably the most over mentioned one of the lot. In fact it is mentioned so much that it kind of defeats the whole purpose of covering it up in the first place.
      The real special "fake facades" are the ones we still don't know about.

    • @mastertrams
      @mastertrams 2 года назад +6

      Ah yes, that old prank pulled on junior postmen! Go and deliver post to No.14 Leinster Gardens (that is the right house number, isn't it?)

  • @KJAYG
    @KJAYG 2 года назад +26

    One of my favourite hidden pieces is for cellphone towers. They’re often disguised as palm trees in places like Hawaï, or pine trees in other places. Similarly they often get put alongside a church and disguise the tower as a giant cross.

    • @Saladdressing67
      @Saladdressing67 2 года назад +4

      the pine trees are hilarious cause theyre so bad. theyll put one up in an area with all oak trees and like no pine trees, and its also like 4x taller then all the surrounding trees. theyre just comically awful

    • @CJ-fb5ni
      @CJ-fb5ni 2 года назад

      @@Saladdressing67 Ikr I live a very forested area and the freaking pine tower is still 2-3times larger than the surrounding trees and has like 10 "branches" its so funny.

  • @kimConrad4643
    @kimConrad4643 2 года назад +10

    I live in Huntington Beach, a bit south of LA, and I still see pumps everywhere on every day drives, even in the downtown area. The name for all the sports teams at my local Highschool was the “Oilers”

  • @erikapauley7391
    @erikapauley7391 2 года назад +339

    The Long Beach oil platforms were designed to look like hotels and were actually designed to blend into the Long Beach skyline. And they kinda do a good job because practically every visitor asks how they can go visit them (spoiler: you can’t)

    • @Network126
      @Network126 2 года назад +6

      Just swim over 🤣

    • @ciello___8307
      @ciello___8307 2 года назад +1

      @@Network126 not worth it haha

    • @nemou4985
      @nemou4985 2 года назад +11

      I wonder if some hotel would make more money than a drillling site...

  • @jabber1990
    @jabber1990 2 года назад +460

    i'm glad to see that the oil industry is putting their infinite amount of money to good use!

    • @i2rtw
      @i2rtw 2 года назад +3

      If only it were infinite.

    • @jabber1990
      @jabber1990 2 года назад +28

      @@hamsandwichindahouse ...and how'd that work out for Venezuela?

    • @i2rtw
      @i2rtw 2 года назад +5

      @@hamsandwichindahouse lol. I see what you did there.

    • @indicus9075
      @indicus9075 2 года назад +14

      @@hamsandwichindahouse id rather not be like venezuela

    • @johncampbell829
      @johncampbell829 2 года назад +1

      @@hamsandwichindahouse lol!! funny!

  • @Ch0c0lateChimp
    @Ch0c0lateChimp 2 года назад +10

    Thank you for finally putting my mind to rest. I always knew that the "Synagogue" near Pico x Robertson was an oil derrick but I never knew the massive building near Pico x Fairfax was one too, I always just assumed it was the world's most depressing-looking office building.

  • @NuclearGunner
    @NuclearGunner 2 года назад +15

    I had a friend from Texas who was living in the LA area for years, who had no idea about this, even though at the entrance to his job was a very poorly hidden one across the street.

  • @sameoldcircus
    @sameoldcircus 2 года назад +69

    I remember being a teen and Signal Hill when oil derricks became housing. At nights we'd occasionally wander around the construction site and climb on the equipment

  • @jeremymurphy7320
    @jeremymurphy7320 2 года назад +141

    I worked in the communication tower business for 12 years and yeah, they're not very attractive. One tower owner decided that they'd have their 180' tower painted a shade of blue that matched the sky. It stood out worse than the standard galvanized finish.

    • @Yawyna124
      @Yawyna124 2 года назад +19

      There are some in my area that are disguised as older coniferous trees and they pass pretty well. Wouldn't even cross your mind until you scrutinize them more, since it isn't exactly unheard of for there to be tall elder trees at the tops of hills. I've heard that success can be a bit more mixed for other sorts, though.

    • @marcellkovacs5452
      @marcellkovacs5452 2 года назад +3

      I've seen GSM towers disguised as palm trees in tropical areas

    • @juliogonzo2718
      @juliogonzo2718 2 года назад +1

      You would think that would be an aircraft hazard

    • @stephenroberts1776
      @stephenroberts1776 2 года назад +1

      @@juliogonzo2718 Its probably so badly done its not even a hazard😂. Big blue tower on a cloudy day

    • @filanfyretracker
      @filanfyretracker 2 года назад

      @@juliogonzo2718 I suspect they are shorter than the height the FAA requires one to consider for aircraft.

  • @imlovely6522
    @imlovely6522 2 года назад +84

    The fact that we get free documentaries on RUclips by Half as Interesting is truly a gift. 👍

  • @samiramin3463
    @samiramin3463 2 года назад +13

    Alright, now that episode of Saved By The Bell where a company was going to put an oil rig in the middle of their football field makes sense. I thought it was a ludicrous premise.

    • @moronsaltable
      @moronsaltable 2 года назад

      Woops!! The judge granted a summary judgement against the plaintiff and the school district was reimbursed $450,000 for legal fees. One of the lawyers who helped in the Erin Brockovich PG&E case was Tom Girardi who's character was Kurt Potter still owes money to the estate of Ed Masry

  • @safebox36
    @safebox36 2 года назад +90

    We have facade buildings in London for when the subway trains used to use steam and needed somewhere to vent.
    Somewhat ironically most of them are in the more expensive neighbourhoods, where residents didn't want a subway tunnel passing through when they were originally built.

    • @violenceisfun991
      @violenceisfun991 2 года назад +2

      @GABRIELLA wasteman

    • @maquettemusic1623
      @maquettemusic1623 2 года назад +1

      Subway? Underground you mean

    • @will7its
      @will7its 2 года назад

      Imagine that......

    • @unbanned6175
      @unbanned6175 Год назад +1

      @@maquettemusic1623 sub = under. Way = road. So maybe, but maybe those lines go specifically under roads, which would make them technically a subway

    • @unbanned6175
      @unbanned6175 Год назад

      @@maquettemusic1623 they call it the tube over there though

  • @DanTehBro
    @DanTehBro 2 года назад +367

    Imagine planning to go to an air show but it gets cancelled because of an oil spill

    • @usensitivead
      @usensitivead 2 года назад +2

      @GABRIELLA what?

    • @Minty_Fern
      @Minty_Fern 2 года назад +16

      It was a huge bummer because it was one of the incredibly rare shows where both the blue angels and thunderbirds were going to perform.

    • @dragonace119
      @dragonace119 2 года назад +10

      @@usensitivead Its a bot.

    • @burgerking3392
      @burgerking3392 2 года назад +1

      It was super disappointing. I was waiting the entire year for it and 😭

    • @GAURAV25855ify
      @GAURAV25855ify 2 года назад

      2 words for the Deepwater Horizon

  • @rosevelvet4357
    @rosevelvet4357 2 года назад +5

    This is some good content my dude. In hindsight it makes a lot of sense that certain things need to exist but people don’t want to look at so they just hide them. Now down a rabbit hole trying to see if there’s anything in my country like this

  • @Pedantic2025
    @Pedantic2025 2 года назад +100

    As a Texan, I can confirm that the schools definitely describe crude oil as a vegetable. Part of the food pyramid.

    • @TulliverS
      @TulliverS 2 года назад +5

      *food derrick

    • @jarradscarborough7915
      @jarradscarborough7915 2 года назад +9

      *crude pyramid

    • @s9josh778
      @s9josh778 2 года назад +5

      I hope this is a hyperbole. I've heard it said seriously twice now.

    • @ricky-sanchez
      @ricky-sanchez 2 года назад +3

      *To make sure you consume your daily oil and minerals.

    • @Pedantic2025
      @Pedantic2025 2 года назад

      @@s9josh778 I was only half joking when I made the comment, lol

  • @rimeeny
    @rimeeny 2 года назад +25

    as a houstonian I must say the oil rigs + other facilities are more on the way to Galveston/surfside than like right by the city

  • @Partyrockscool
    @Partyrockscool 2 года назад +205

    I thought LA was fake in the first place, thanks for clearing up that it isn’t

    • @dannypipewrench533
      @dannypipewrench533 2 года назад +33

      No, you are actually right. Los Angeles is all of the infrastructure, mainly the highways, but also all of the other stuff like this. The buildings just happen to be there. The capital of Los Angeles is Interstate 405, because California sucks, Los Angeles sucks harder, and Interstate 405 is the hardest sucking thing in existence.

    • @flp322
      @flp322 2 года назад +4

      No that's Bielefeld, Germany

    • @TheWeekndGaming
      @TheWeekndGaming 2 года назад +3

      the lakers are a fake team so would make sense for the whole city to be fake

    • @whathell6t
      @whathell6t 2 года назад +1

      @@TheWeekndGaming
      Are you being serious or joking?
      Have you actually visited Pico-Union, Lincoln Heights, Paicoma, El Sereno, Sylmar, West Adams, Leimert Park, Hyde Park, Figueroa Corridor, Ethiopian Corridor, El Salvador Corridor, Filipinotown, Koreatown, Tehrangeles, Virgil Village, Cypress Park, Heritage Square, Lakeview Terrance-Hansen Dam, Green Meadows, Vermont Knolls, Vermont Square, Central-Alameda, Harbor Gateway, Wilmington, San Pedro, Boyle Heights, etc; of Los Angeles, CA?

    • @TheWeekndGaming
      @TheWeekndGaming 2 года назад +23

      @@whathell6t no i havent cause it’s not real

  • @nickwestbrook5913
    @nickwestbrook5913 2 года назад +4

    3:13 I thought that was a joke you made, and then I looked back to my screen and saw the article 😳

    • @jpaugh64
      @jpaugh64 2 года назад

      I know!!! It a citing a school newspaper, so it was a bunch of high-schoolers making that joke. It was their friends who were getting cancer, so I guess they're entitled to their humor.

  • @L.B.ChoChasers
    @L.B.ChoChasers 2 года назад +2

    0:51 You are absolutely right. And i have no idea why lol

  • @Tbug20
    @Tbug20 2 года назад +34

    I live somewhat close to LA and its perfectly normal to see a bunch of those see-sawing oil things just off the freeway

    • @ethanclupper7034
      @ethanclupper7034 2 года назад +13

      Those are called pumpjacks, you probably don't care but there is the name

    • @Tbug20
      @Tbug20 2 года назад +8

      @@ethanclupper7034 the more you know

    • @katieandkevinsears7724
      @katieandkevinsears7724 2 года назад +3

      I call them nodding donkeys.

    • @Ch0c0lateChimp
      @Ch0c0lateChimp 2 года назад

      @@katieandkevinsears7724 I called them rope hammers

  • @alkali99
    @alkali99 2 года назад +15

    "sipping that spicy jurassic juice" is beautiful. i am going to try my hardest to work this phrase into conversation

    • @jpaugh64
      @jpaugh64 2 года назад

      @@SuperEgo1989 The effect is greater if you can successfully use the phrase in a conversation that someone else starts. That's really tricky to get right, but has a huge payoff if the joke lands.

    • @nuclearcatbaby1131
      @nuclearcatbaby1131 13 дней назад

      More like Pleistocene juice since that's when all the La Brea fossils come from

  • @leogrievous
    @leogrievous 2 года назад +2

    3:30 lol I literally live 2mins away from that sculpture and never noticed.

  • @svntn
    @svntn 2 года назад +3

    my “neighbor” is one of those electricity houses in Toronto. i love it honestly, only have one neighbor to worry about, and they’re a really cool family. no noise pollution either. couple trucks once in a while but thats it

  • @calebhutchison8915
    @calebhutchison8915 2 года назад +44

    I wish you would have included the El Segundo Offshore Terminal. To maintain the attractiveness on the shore from Santa Monica to Manhattan Beach, chevrons oil refinery in El Segundo has underground pipes that go a few miles out under the beaches and into the ocean. Oil tanker ships like the one I used to work on drop anchor at the end of these pipes and the refinery specifically employs people whose job it is to get on a launch boat and connect the ship while it is anchored in the ocean. The oil keeps flowing and the beachgoers have no idea.

    • @GAURAV25855ify
      @GAURAV25855ify 2 года назад +1

      Diu know Louisiana Oklahoma and Alaska are also oil and gas driven states as well Oklahoma is a vineyard for rich Texans

    • @seanthe100
      @seanthe100 2 года назад +1

      @@GAURAV25855ify the difference is none of them have 10 million people living right on top of the industry.

    • @oilman5578
      @oilman5578 Год назад

      @@GAURAV25855ify yep add in Arkansas, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Virginia, for a bit New York, some in Idaho, Colorado, some in Montana, pretty a bunch of the East Coast. (There is actually the potential for a north sea sized field off the east coast but people don't want rigs in thier backyard).

  • @JKTCGMV13
    @JKTCGMV13 2 года назад +9

    “Which knowing my audience is probably most of you”
    I feel so called out

  • @BigDaddyDoog
    @BigDaddyDoog 2 года назад +1

    Wow I would have never imagined how widespread this practice is - Awesome video!

  • @dovechocolate8847
    @dovechocolate8847 2 года назад +1

    “And most of them are digging for that sweet black, dinosaur vinegar.” Beautiful. 😂

  • @NoJusticeNoPeace
    @NoJusticeNoPeace 2 года назад +80

    They've also started disguising cellphone towers as plastic trees. I hate it. There is an authentic beauty to industrial architecture, an unapologetic paean to function and utilitarianism. I don't need my infrastructure to look like ticky-tacky suburban kitsch.

    • @AGDinCA
      @AGDinCA 2 года назад +14

      Started? My friend, that's been going on for at least a decade.

    • @demoniack81
      @demoniack81 2 года назад +6

      They've been doing this for ages m8

    • @michaelmccarthy4615
      @michaelmccarthy4615 2 года назад +5

      People don't notice anything above their head unless they are looking for something

  • @lucykwiatek5159
    @lucykwiatek5159 2 года назад +162

    Sam Yorty calling a petroleum derrick "civic beauty" is EXTREMELY on-brand.

    • @Am-Not-Jarvis
      @Am-Not-Jarvis 2 года назад +4

      Sam Yorty was LA's first part-time, absentee mayor. The second was Eric Garcetti.

    • @lucykwiatek5159
      @lucykwiatek5159 2 года назад

      @@Am-Not-Jarvis As a great man once said to LA pols, "I yield my time, fuck you."

    • @theyoutubecommentator7733
      @theyoutubecommentator7733 2 года назад +7

      How civic is civic beauty in honda civics?

    • @toyocolla6374
      @toyocolla6374 2 года назад

      @@theyoutubecommentator7733 depends on how well you tune it

    • @kzang386
      @kzang386 2 года назад

      @@theyoutubecommentator7733 rice/10

  • @aehrr4247
    @aehrr4247 2 года назад +1

    I'm glad I attended the first day of the Pacific Airshow because of the spill that occurred off the coast there. I was originally planned on going the next day which got canceled during that night.

  • @pacificostudios
    @pacificostudios 2 года назад +2

    Wow! I've seen those islands off of Long Beach, but I never guessed what those things are doing. On the other hand, there are some oil wells visible from the train in Santa Fe Springs, and there is no disguising them.

  • @omarkorayem6611
    @omarkorayem6611 2 года назад +67

    One way that cell phone towers are "hidden" in the Middle East is by making them look like palm trees. Of course it's easy to tell that they aren't palm trees because of how much taller and straight they are.

    • @JonReevesLA
      @JonReevesLA 2 года назад +16

      They do that in L.A., too.

    • @angelrobles7201
      @angelrobles7201 2 года назад +8

      They do that in Mexico too.
      Guess they do that everywhere.

    • @MottyGlix
      @MottyGlix 2 года назад +4

      I've seen that in New Jersey and in Maryland, along (or on the medians of) highways.

    • @brookeking8559
      @brookeking8559 2 года назад +5

      In New England many cell phone ground stations are inside the steeples of old churches on hills. If the church didn’t have an adequate steeple for the purpose or had no steeple, the ground station operator paid to construct what’s needed. The ground station operators pay handsome rent to the churches whose steeples they utilize.

    • @brookeking8559
      @brookeking8559 2 года назад +1

      @@Stevie-J LOL! I never thought of it that way. If the signal is bad, should one ask for forgiveness or for a blessing?

  • @LyonTheGreat
    @LyonTheGreat 2 года назад +26

    I live in Toronto and used to have one of those hidden substations next to my condo. It was demolished a few years back and I moved from the area shortly thereafter, but I've always wondered what they did with the space. The plot of land was between two residential buildings and too small to do a lot with. I assume it has something to do with the Eglinton Crosstown LRT but I'm not sure.

    • @GAURAV25855ify
      @GAURAV25855ify 2 года назад

      No offense Toronto has no oil
      Riggs

    • @NebulonRanger
      @NebulonRanger 2 месяца назад +1

      In the east end, it was also really common to not know where your Bell CO or Rogers distribution building was, because they're often hidden in storefronts or doctor's office buildings, like the Bell one near where I used to live at Danforth and Main.

  • @gsh341
    @gsh341 2 года назад +2

    It's very common for companies to hide or disguise things that most would consider unsightly. Cell phone towers in urban settings are one of the most common. I've seen some that look like flag poles, palm trees, fir trees and some antennas are just cleverly hidden by making them look like part of the façade of a building.
    These are referred to as "stealth" towers and many people walk right past them and don't even realize they are there.

  • @nathanielfuggers
    @nathanielfuggers 2 года назад +1

    i lost it at the “tower of hope you dont get cancer”🤣🤣

  • @metropod
    @metropod 2 года назад +10

    There is a video on Defunctland about a small LA amusement park that used a working pump as their advertising by making it look like a grasshopper.

  • @hackarma2072
    @hackarma2072 2 года назад +98

    "The most american solution :
    Keep drilling for oil and just cover it up ! Like literally... cover it up"
    I had a good laugh from this one 🤣

    • @leerman22
      @leerman22 2 года назад +1

      They're just hiding it from Karen.

    • @sandersson2813
      @sandersson2813 2 года назад

      Why not? Its hidden not because they are covering it up, but to make it look more attractive.

  • @robscanecorso
    @robscanecorso 2 года назад

    Cool video. My dad worked for Beverly Hills Oil for most of my childhood. I think I still have one of his trucker caps from the 80s.

  • @GaryLASQ
    @GaryLASQ 2 года назад

    This video just reminded me of one of my favorite episodes of the TV show Emergency! Season 4, Episode 2 "I'll Fix It". In that episode, they rescue someone trapped in a house that is flooding with oil because it was built on an "inactive" oil well that started erupting.

  • @pob_
    @pob_ 2 года назад +95

    LA really is one of the worlds stickiest cities

    • @captainmacmellon2333
      @captainmacmellon2333 2 года назад +8

      that and Las Vegas

    • @vincenttt8289
      @vincenttt8289 2 года назад +25

      Immediately after the Great Molasses flood, it was Boston

    • @tobiasrud
      @tobiasrud 2 года назад +5

      @@vincenttt8289 this guy Sam O' Nellas

    • @skenzyme81
      @skenzyme81 2 года назад +2

      Especially the Valley. Avoid couches.

    • @Ginrikuzuma
      @Ginrikuzuma 2 года назад

      must be all the crap on the floor

  • @offichannelnurnberg5894
    @offichannelnurnberg5894 2 года назад +7

    Of all the videos on youtube, I least expected the Nuremberg U-Bahn to be mentioned in a video about drilling oil in LA.

    • @RobinMueller1
      @RobinMueller1 2 года назад +3

      Alter same haha, der Brunnen kam aus dem nichts

    • @offichannelnurnberg5894
      @offichannelnurnberg5894 2 года назад +2

      @@RobinMueller1 Wobei ich ja fast alles über die U-Bahn weiß, aber das mit dem Brunnen war tatsächlich etwas neues für mich, ich wusste zwar, dass da die U-Bahn fährt, aber dass der Brunnen was mit der U-Bahn zu tun hat war mir nicht klar.

  • @charleswoods2996
    @charleswoods2996 2 года назад +3

    This video triggered memories of working in an auto parts store in the vary late 80s to early 90s where I saw the word "synthetic" used on the labels of "motor oil", that as that auto parts store chain was going out of business thus the "oil shelves" went empty! However, obviously, "synthetic" oil can be produced in a laboratory rather than drilled up out of the Earth - for much less money!

  • @robertjones7419
    @robertjones7419 2 года назад +4

    Living in the middle of a massive oil field and paying some of the highest gas prices in the nation…

  • @jonasdatlas4668
    @jonasdatlas4668 2 года назад +51

    Whee, oil wells, fake facades, and possibly intrigue! This sounds like the setup for a movie.

  • @peskypigeonx
    @peskypigeonx 2 года назад +6

    2:56 wow an oil derrick really gives me hope for the future, especially when global warming and pollution will just disappear when you can’t see it directly

  • @harrisonofcolorado8886
    @harrisonofcolorado8886 2 года назад +2

    I actually once was watching a program that had a collection of interurban trains from California when they existed and when the program was showing videos of the former Pacific Electric railroad, the narrator at one point mentioned that one of the stations was near an oil well somewhere off screen. I didn't give it much of a second thought and assumed that the oil there eventually dried up. When I watched this video that oil wells are still all over LA but in disguise, I was honestly so surprised since I've been to LA a few times before and didn't notice anything resembling something oil related, or if I did see anything oil related, I don't remember it

  • @tiagoprado7001
    @tiagoprado7001 2 года назад +35

    That's a decent effort, but I have to admit that oil platforms look way too cool to cover up. Land derrecks, not so much though. And living in Shipyard Town, Oil Sate, I get to see them in't harbour quite often. Though the drilling is done out of view in the middle of the ocean, I only see them when they're not operating.

    • @ciello___8307
      @ciello___8307 2 года назад +1

      It depends. In a residential area, they are an eyesore

  • @AdrianParsons
    @AdrianParsons 2 года назад +4

    I'm in Toronto & my wife & I lived across the street from a Uranium Processing Plant for a *year* & we only learned that it existed from a newspaper article about 3 years after we moved away from that address.

    • @davidthomson802
      @davidthomson802 2 года назад

      what neighbourhood?

    • @AdrianParsons
      @AdrianParsons 2 года назад

      @@davidthomson802 The plant is on the North West corner of Lansdowne & DuPont.

    • @davidthomson802
      @davidthomson802 2 года назад +1

      @@AdrianParsons ah. Thanks. If I think hard I might remember that corner. I might put it into a novel. thanks again

    • @heartache5742
      @heartache5742 2 года назад

      that sounds like someone should pay you a health compensation

    • @nox5555
      @nox5555 2 года назад

      @@AdrianParsons The streetname should have been a give away.

  • @Kevin-jb2pv
    @Kevin-jb2pv 2 года назад

    A neighborhood I lived in in north Colorado Springs used to have one of these just a few houses down the street at the top of a hill. It was sort of a ritzy country club neighborhood, and the building concealed the pumping station for the neighborhood's water supply.

  • @sophie7780
    @sophie7780 2 года назад

    wasn't expecting a toronto hydro shoutout here!! yeah we have hydro stations hidden as houses but they typically are pretty obvious anyway (normally they have a toronto hydro sign on the door or front lawn lol)

  • @haroon420
    @haroon420 2 года назад +8

    You missed the army bases in Switzerland disguised as normal houses but house massive gun batteries to defend against invasion!!!

    • @davidthomson802
      @davidthomson802 2 года назад +1

      and the "mountains". That's what they want you to think they are.

    • @prime_optimus
      @prime_optimus 2 года назад +1

      @@davidthomson802 Yeah. And the grains of sand are secretly a bunch of super small nuclear bombs.

  • @zahdoma
    @zahdoma 2 года назад +10

    Imagine breaking into a house and literally striking oil

  • @alxacm7
    @alxacm7 2 года назад

    "Spicy Jurassic juice!" Lol gonna have to use that next time I'm at the pump

  • @robertmagpizza
    @robertmagpizza 2 года назад +2

    Just casually dropping my hometown Nürnberg XD awesome to hear it!!

  • @realkingofantarctica
    @realkingofantarctica 2 года назад +10

    I hope that one day, all my years of walking into random buildings to see what's inside will pay off and I'll find one of these bad boys.

  • @LeftInBama
    @LeftInBama 2 года назад +45

    All my life living in LA we all see the oil drills in random spots, but *I NEVER KNEW THEY WERE HIDDEN AROUND* 🤣

  • @MoonFairy929
    @MoonFairy929 2 года назад

    Woah. I grew up in LA. I remember seeing those rigs along the hillsides of the park we always went too, but I otherwise had no idea!

  • @inCawHoots
    @inCawHoots 2 года назад +5

    I’ve always wondered what those towers in The Long Beach islands were. They seemed like bird preservations or something. They looked ominous or hiding something.

  • @chinmaym1612
    @chinmaym1612 2 года назад +6

    Explains why you can't enter most buildings in GTA 5.

    • @Richi_Boi
      @Richi_Boi 2 года назад

      There is disappointing amount of gta5 references in this comment section

    • @jpaugh64
      @jpaugh64 2 года назад

      🤣 That always bothered me, but at least now I know why!

  • @Crossark1
    @Crossark1 2 года назад +4

    As a born-and-raises Texan, I love me some roasted crude with my morning longhorn steak.

  • @falafel2964
    @falafel2964 2 года назад +14

    It will be cool of new open-world games would use these as collectibles. Instead of looking for some obscure random graffiti in the middle of a dark alley, you would observe every structure you could see and figure out if any of them feels "off". It's a great way to encourage exploration without making it seem like a chore.

    • @qactustick
      @qactustick 2 года назад

      Why wouldn't it seem like a chore? Still sounds like basically the same thing to me.

    • @falafel2964
      @falafel2964 2 года назад

      @@qactustick Well for one, they're basically huge, but just hidden in plain sight. You don't really need to go to every nook and cranny like most standard collectibles do. You can simply look for them by just looking at the skyline whenever you're driving off to somewhere else.

    • @cyber_dragon_123
      @cyber_dragon_123 2 года назад

      *screams in The Witness*

    • @megamaser
      @megamaser 11 месяцев назад

      Sounds like the most boring game ever.

  • @michaeltaylor1603
    @michaeltaylor1603 2 года назад

    I'm from Houston, TX (yeah! our cRaP) is right there out in the open. When I was a little boy going on vaycay to Southern California as we landed in the 70's I was surprised to see so many pumping jacks or nodding donkeys as they are called. We are "proud" of ours. Even so far as to decorate them. Now you don't see a lot of derricks, there are a butt load of flare stacks!

  • @jerseygunz
    @jerseygunz 2 года назад +6

    Huh, so that episode of saved by the bell where they find oil at Bayside wasnt as unrealistic as I always thought it was…….. well the finding oil part, the fact they didn’t end up drilling is still unbelievable

    • @ciello___8307
      @ciello___8307 2 года назад

      I Dont really think a school district would approve an active oil drill on a school today

  • @TheGroovyGuitarDude
    @TheGroovyGuitarDude 2 года назад +34

    As someone who currently lives near Houston, the shade in this video is valid 🙃

    • @texasforever7887
      @texasforever7887 2 года назад +2

      Houston is a horrible sprawling city who's planee should be shot when they get out of prison. I mean it makes Dallas look good and that is depressingly saying a lot. Lol

  • @nicklacerte7134
    @nicklacerte7134 2 года назад

    Someone finally made it video about these. I know all about every one. I live by the old towers in brea. I love the historic charm

  • @Heidelaffe
    @Heidelaffe 2 года назад +4

    I walked past the fountain in Nuremberg today, as so many times before, and never knew that it‘s purpose was ventilation for the subway. Again what learned, as Lothar would say.

  • @kevinp8108
    @kevinp8108 2 года назад +4

    I was just on a cruise ship in the port of Long Beach and I did see those oil rigs disguised as islands.

  • @rebeccaaldrich3396
    @rebeccaaldrich3396 2 года назад

    Wow! Thanks for the info. I had no idea.

  • @GiTxSHuM
    @GiTxSHuM 2 года назад

    This is good knowledge for people new to the city. I was curious many years ago and never did research. GO SC. Fight On.

  • @RIFLQ
    @RIFLQ 2 года назад +3

    Out of sight, out of mind.

  • @soggylegos8545
    @soggylegos8545 2 года назад +23

    Alternative title: How Fake Buildings Hide LA'S Slicky Icky

  • @vrcompatible8999
    @vrcompatible8999 2 года назад +2

    The fact that he keeps calling the Wells Derricks is killing me. As a derrickhand, I can confirm that the Derrick is the tower they end up removing because it's just there to drill down.

  • @Frieslick
    @Frieslick 2 года назад

    Whoever writes the scrips for HAI is a legitimate comedic genius. These videos are always just as humorous as they are interesting.. Keep up the stellar work, gentlemen.

  • @Dragondude2525
    @Dragondude2525 2 года назад +4

    I do appreciate the toronto shout out. Yeah we have tons of these fake houses and other fake buildings downtown for this exact use.

    • @davidthomson802
      @davidthomson802 2 года назад

      someone should make a map. I mean make a map available.

  • @busslayer4790
    @busslayer4790 2 года назад +5

    This seemed like a perfect topic to segue to bricks.

  • @kenrhino7904
    @kenrhino7904 2 года назад

    Cool video! I wish you would have included the locations of some of those buildings in L.A. I knew about the one next to Beverly Hills High School.

  • @tonyarcus
    @tonyarcus 2 года назад

    Good job, nice pace and no fluff!

  • @mandiejones2355
    @mandiejones2355 2 года назад +10

    I was gonna go to that airshow too!! This is so crazy but explains a lot; I figured there was a lot of oil they'd want to tap into, so I guess it's no surprise they'd find a way hahaha

  • @danielovercash1093
    @danielovercash1093 2 года назад +4

    The old oil fields look so creepy and otherworldly... I would bet that's where Tolkien got some inspiration for the orc structures

  • @Instructor1990
    @Instructor1990 2 года назад

    Spicy Jurassic Juice 😂😂😂 I'll never be able to look at oil the same

  • @fishingbob8374
    @fishingbob8374 2 года назад

    My grandpa put up a lot of oil derricks along the 57 just north of Yorba Linda back in the 60’s. They’re not covered up and most are still in operation today.

  • @Am-Not-Jarvis
    @Am-Not-Jarvis 2 года назад +23

    I live a couple blocks away from one of the many oil derricks in LA, but it's not cleverly hidden at all, and it's actually a huge issue for the community from a health perspective.

    • @sandersson2813
      @sandersson2813 2 года назад

      Why is it a health risk? A derrick pumps oil up a pipe into a container.

    • @Am-Not-Jarvis
      @Am-Not-Jarvis 2 года назад +6

      @@sandersson2813 A study in Colorado found that people living within 500 feet of an oil and gas facility have a lifetime excess cancer risk eight times higher than the upper limit set by the Environmental Protection Agency. Denver Post article from 2018

    • @sandersson2813
      @sandersson2813 2 года назад

      @@Am-Not-Jarvis Theres similar studies for everything, for example peolle who live near to pylons, granite deposits, coal deposits, rubbish dumps etc.
      Who cares and who the fuck live just 500ft from an oil facility? 😂 😂 😂 😂
      You might as well say studies show higher rates of ill health among those who live at Chernobyl

    • @nemou4985
      @nemou4985 2 года назад +4

      @@sandersson2813 You are very dishonest, you asked "why is it a health risk" and he answered. Who lives 500ft from an oil facility? Well apparently a lot of people.

    • @sandersson2813
      @sandersson2813 2 года назад

      @@nemou4985 How many?
      Lots of things are a health risk. We take risks every single day. No one makes you live near a well. Move.

  • @Dabidto
    @Dabidto 2 года назад +12

    This could be a plot for a hollywood movie. just saying. it's literally in their backyard.

  • @CreatingCreations
    @CreatingCreations 2 года назад

    Visited LA for the first time recently, being the nerd that I am I had so much fun looking for all the oil wells that I could find.

  • @AustrianLinuxMemer
    @AustrianLinuxMemer 2 года назад

    i live in the town of Wels, Austria. In proximity of Sattledt, Austria, there stands an oil pump and Wels itself has a tiny natural gas resoirvare for the local hospital

  • @Chris0nF1re
    @Chris0nF1re 2 года назад +15

    Time to fill my brain with more facts that I can annoy my friends and family with.

    • @gtbkts
      @gtbkts 2 года назад +1

      Same. Muhahahahha

    • @pandoraeve9751
      @pandoraeve9751 2 года назад +2

      Big mood. (Though my father also listens to this channel and thus we often team up to just go on about a thing we learned about that's super cool and possibly annoying everyone else in the process who is not also like us.)

    • @jpaugh64
      @jpaugh64 2 года назад

      @@pandoraeve9751 You're lucky to have such a supportive dad! I hope to be like him someday!

  • @skie6282
    @skie6282 2 года назад +31

    This is actually extremely smart strategically too. Imagine an enemy wanting to destroy oil rigs, they either need to find them to target them, or bomb the whole city of civilians...

    • @teamextremepk
      @teamextremepk 2 года назад +11

      Except the location of all of them is publicly available😂 it's more to visually hide them

    • @YoutubeChannel-ll6sw
      @YoutubeChannel-ll6sw 2 года назад

      nah information like this video makes it pretty easy to take these out without taking out civilians

    • @JohnA891
      @JohnA891 2 года назад +2

      Why destroy a rig, couple of 2000lb surprises at the destination makes every pump useless. Don't attack the source, demolish the destination.

    • @meppho
      @meppho 2 года назад +1

      That's using civilians as human shield. "extremely smart".