Which Oil Fields Produce the Most Oil Per Day?

There are an estimated 1.4 trillion barrels of oil available for extraction, according to a 2013 report by Wood Mackenzie. And although it appears that the world won't run out of oil in the very near future, the UN-backed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has stated that the unrestricted use of fossil fuels must be phased out in order to avoid catastrophic climate change. In fact, in its recent report, the IPCC said that it is imperative that the majority of electricity is produced by low-carbon sources by 2050.

Most if this oil lies in the regions of the Middle East, Latin America, North America and Africa. Currently, we get our oil from one of over 4,000 oil fields, using around 85 million barrels a day. Within these oil fields are tiny operations that churn out less than 20,000 barrels per day and mega-fields that gush out a mighty million bpd. By far the largest and most productive oil field is Ghawar in Saudi Arabia. Others include Burgan in Kuwait, and Rumalia and West Qurna-2 in Iraq.

Ghawar, Saudi Arabia

Ghawar is the world's largest field, located in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Experts estimate it has between 70 - 100 billion barrels of remaining oil reserves.

Discovered in 1948 and put into production in the early 1950’s, Ghawar is the world’s largest conventional oil field. It now produces around 5 million bpd.

It has produced around 60 billion barrels over 60 years of production, and despite rumours that it has reached its peak, Saudi operators insist it is still a profitable field.

Burgan, Kuwait

The second largest oil field is the onshore supergiant Burgan field, located in the south-eastern desert area of Kuwait. Bloomberg experts estimate there are around 55 billion barrels of remaining oil reserves, as of 2005.

Discovered in 1936, and productive since 1948, Burgan is the world’s largest sandstone oil field. The oil field produces around 1.7 million bpd.

Burgan has produced around 28 billion barrels of oil, with the owners stating the field has a 30 to 40 year lifespan.

West Qurna, Iraq

West Qurna is one of Iraq’s largest onshore oil fields, located north of Rumaila and west of Basra. West Qurna is thought to hold reserves of around 43 billion barrels of oil. Discovered in 1973, since production the field has produced between 15 to 21 billion barrels of oil.

Thanks to a new contract awarded to ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell, output is expected to rise from 300,000 bpd to 2.3 million bpd.

Rumaila, Iraq

The Rumaila field is situated in southern Iraq, and is considered to be the third-largest field in the world. It holds reserves of around 17 billion barrels of oil. It was discovered in 1953, and currently produces 1.3 million bpd. However, with the oil easy to access, the operators are intending to spend $15 billion in order to treble that production to 2.85 million bpd. This would place Rumaila second after only Saudi Arabia’s Ghawar field.