Hi Glen:

No, generally not. The Santa Barbara Channel has lots of natural gas and oil seeps, and these having been going on for many years. We did have a major spill in January of 1969, which created a terrible mess and killed a lot of wildlife, that did come from a blow out on an oil platform.

The beaches around Santa Barbara are often littered with specks and clumps of tar-like oil (a real mess on your feet and your dog!), but most of it is natural. The native tribes who lived around there used to use this to caulk their pots and canoes.

I wouldn't say that NO oil on the beach is from drilling, but mostly it is natural. Several of the oil companies consistently claim that drilling for oil and gas will actually decrease seeps. I'm not sure about that one...

Chris may be more up to date than I am. Hope this helps!