An oil company’s plans that may result in new oil production in southeast Long Beach, as well as the potential restoration of existing oil fields to more natural conditions, are scheduled to receive a public review this evening.

Long Beach Planning Commission members will take up a proposal during their evening meeting concerning the future of four plots of land inside, and near, the Los Cerritos Wetlands.

The prospect of a trade has been in the public eye for at least three years. Synergy Oil & Gas, which operates the existing oil fields that would be involved in the project, received the Long Beach City Council’s support in the summer of 2014 for a permitting process that might eventually result in the California Coastal Commission granting a coastal development permit.

The project would require Synergy Oil & Gas to invest roughly $200 million on new wells, pipelines and other construction, Chief Executive John McKeown said.

The potential upside for that spending that much money would be to employ new equipment that could reduce extraction costs from about $25 to $5 a barrel, as well as the relocation of operations to less environmentally sensitive land.

“It’s old stuff immediately adjacent to the tides that come in and out,” he said, referring to existing equipment.

McKeown said a move would reduce the environmental risks of that old equipment being damaged in the event of something such as an earthquake or a driver crashing into facilities after losing control of a vehicle while traveling on a nearby street.

In May 2016, Synergy Oil & Gas announced that a new entity called Beach Oil Minerals Partners would be responsible for what the company describes as a consolidation of oil fields and wetlands restoration. The proposal involves four plots of land.

The plan:

• Synergy Oil & Gas’ oil field, encompassing about 150 acres, that sits to the northwest of where Second Street crosses Studebaker Road. The proposal calls for the northern part of this area to be restored as a coastal salt marsh and planting of native vegetation in the area’s southern acreage. Oil extraction work here to be phased out over the course of four decades.

• A 33-acre plot of city government-owned land exists southwest of where Second meets Studebaker. Synergy’s oil operations taking place here would also be discontinued over the course of 40 years.

• A 7-acre piece of land known as the “Pumpkin Patch site” is near where Pacific Coast Highway passes over the San Gabriel River. This land is currently owned by an affiliate Lyon Living, a Newport Beach apartment concern, and already has an active oil well, according to environmental documentation. New oil wells would be drilled here if the project moves forward.

• A 5-acre piece of land owned by the Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority would also be the site of additional oil wells and other industrial equipment, if the project is accomplished.

A draft environmental impact report detailing potential consequences of the project came out in late July. That study shows significant impacts affecting air quality during prospective construction but also reports the trade and prospective construction of new oil extraction facilities could also be accomplished without significant effects on sensitive wildlife, habitat or the aesthetic appeal of the Los Cerritos Wetlands.

The Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust is a local environmental group that advocates for the protection of southeast Long Beach’s wetlands. Elizabeth Lambe, the group’s executive director, said consultants have been hired to review the environmental report and its leaders are waiting for their advice to decide whether they will support or oppose the proposal.

“We have really good people looking at it,” she said.

The project could begin as early as 2018, according to the environmental report. Numerous approvals from government agencies would be required.