LONG BEACH (CBS) — An effort to scope out potentially untapped oil fields in the Southland was underway on Friday, just as drivers revved up their engines for the long holiday weekend.

KNX 1070′s Ron Kilgore reports on the caravan of high-tech vehicles moving through Long Beach.

Local firm Nodal Seismic has deployed a fleet of trucks to send seismic vibrations thousands of feet underground in the hunt for deposits of gas and oil.

One senior official said new techniques are enabling crews to look without the expense of having to drill exploratory wells.

“The last wave of serious exploration out here was probably in the 1960s,” said managing partner Dan Hollis.

That procrastination, Harris said, is providing additional incentive to catch up to other industry firms that don’t face “the surface constraints of a major urban center on top of an oil field.”

Results of the yearlong study are not expected to be completed for several months.