Car lights are seen streaking past an oil-rig extracting petroleum in Los-Angeles.
As the price of crude oil rises to nearly $120 per barrel, it is prompting oil companies to re-open numerous wells across the nation that were considered tapped out and unprofitable decades ago, when oil sold for one-fifth the price.
Many of the old unprofitable wells, known as 'stripper wells', are located in urban areas where home owners are often outraged by the noise, smell, and possible environmental hazards associated with living so close to renewed oil drilling.
Since homeowners usually do not own the mineral rights under their land, oil firms can drill at an angle to go under homes regardless of the desires of residents. Using expensive new technology and drilling techniques, producers have reversed a long decline of about 5 percent annually with an increased crude flow.
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