Long Beach isn’t waiting for Congress and the presidential candidates to do something about reducing America’s dependence on imported foreign oil.

On the last day of the regular 2008 legislative session, Mayor Bob Foster got a bill passed by the Legislature to allow the state and the city to negotiate a contract with Occidental Petroleum Corp. to revive part of the 76-year-old Wilmington oil field — once thought to be nearly tapped out.

With prices above $100 a barrel, experts hope to generate a total of about $1 billion in new revenue for the city, the Port of Long Beach, the state and the oil company over the next decade. By using the latest exploration and drilling techniques, output could increase by as much as 63 percent, they say.

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