Intermittent unsuccessful exploration for oil has been carried on in the Salinas Valley for 50 years. A favorable sedimentary section of both source and reservoir beds has prompted a periodic renewal of wildcat drilling, the most recent of which was undertaken in 1946 and is still in progress. The general stratigraphy and structure of the basin are reviewed and some exploration statistics presented. Recent wells drilled have shown that the Vaqueros sand is less extensive than originally thought. In addition, new light has been thrown on the King City fault, revealing two periods and types of movement and indicating that B. L. Clark's fault-block theory of the origin of present-day structural features may be valid in this particular area.

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