continued to produce from the field. Parts of the field have subsided nine feet from the original ground surface elevation since production began, while subsidence in adjacent Baytown has reached approximately six feet. Not all of the subsidence in the field and adjacent areas is due to oil withdrawal; some is from pumping of groundwater from water wells. Peak production of the field had been reached by 1918, before the street grid for Baytown had even been drawn up. In that year the field produced of oil (more than the current estimated recoverable reserve). Some of the infrastructure improvements built during this year were the railroad connecting the oil field to the site of the future refinery, and pipelines crossing under the bay connecting storage tanks to the mainland. On May 24, 1919, a tropical storm destroyed over 1,450 of the flimsy wooden oil derricks erected on the field. After the production peak in 1918, field output began a slow decline, dropping from the high of in 1918 to only 1,100 in 1943. Production increased again in the 1960s with the development of water injection technologies, but then began falling off as the field became depleted. The field's major operators in 1984 were Exxon, Chevron, Mobil, Monsanto, Coastal, and Enderli Oil. Many of the major oil companies began divesting their onshore operations in the U.S. around this time, selling them to independents, as opportunities overseas became more attractive. The field changed hands several times, going to Wood Energy Corp. in 1996, and then to Texas American Resources in 1999. They operated the field until 2006, at which time Bakersfield, California-based Foothills-Resources bought the field. Foothills immediately began a remapping and 3D-seismic survey program to identify new development opportunities. At this time the daily production from the field was around of oil per day; Foothills-Resources claimed that the field retained of proven reserves. In late 2007 they put in new wells, but the entire field was shut down for two weeks in September 2008 due to Hurricane Ike, the eye of which passed directly over the field, and destroyed or damaged considerable oil and gas infrastructure in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico. In spite of the direct hit by Ike, and the field being right at sea level or in shallow water, subject to storm surge, little long-term damage occurred; nevertheless the field was inoperative for two weeks. On February 11,