Oil Fields

By: EconomyWatch   Date: 30 June 2010

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Oil fields are regions with abundant underground oil reservoirs. Oil wells are drilled in these fields to extract crude oil and petroleum by-products. The largest oil fields in the world are found in the Middle East, in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait and the UAE. Other oil rich countries include the Russia and other former Soviet Union states, Nigeria, the US and Venezuela.

The US, China, Japan, Russia and Germany are the major oil consumers.

Oil Fields: History

The first oil wells were drilled in 347 AD in China with bamboo poles and were up to 800 feet deep. Oil was first produced in the US (in Pennsylvania) in 1815 as a by-product from salt water wells. In 1901, discovery of the spindletop field in southeast Texas led to discovering more giant oil fields in the US, particularly in California, Texas, and Oklahoma. In 1968, the country’s first super giant oil field was discovered in Prudhoe Bay, in Alaska. Asia’s first oil well in Asia was drilled in the Aspheron Peninsula in 1848. In Europe, oil wells were first drilled at Bóbrka (Poland). These were just 30 to 50 meters deep. Presently, there are over 40,000 oil and gasoline fields of varied sizes across the world.

List of Major Oil Fields

Name of the Field Location Year of Discovery Extraction started in Total reserve capacity (billion barrels)
Ghanwar Saudi Arabia 1948 1951 75-83
Burgan Kuwait 1938 1948 66-72
Kirkuk Iraq 1927 1934 8.5
Cantarell Mexico 1976 1981 18
Romashkino Russia 1948 1949 16-17
Samatlor Russia 1965 1969 14-16

An oil field is generally found in a remote location. This complicates the construction of a functional field for extraction. The process is complex due to lack of resources. A typical oil field can be found in a small self-contained city. Major oil field construction and operation companies include BJ Services, Baker Hughes, Schlumberger Limited and Esso.


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