The Five Biggest Oil Fields Ever Found

Ghawar in Saudi Arabia stands alone: about 230 km long, over 60 billion barrels produced, and the anchor of world supply since the 1950s. Greater Burgan in Kuwait follows with roughly 70 billion barrels in place in a single sandstone structure.

Samotlor in Siberia, Rumaila in Iraq and the Bolivar Coastal complex in Venezuela round out most top five lists. Cantarell in Mexico burned brighter and fell faster than any of them, from 2.2 million barrels per day in 2004 to a fraction within a decade.

Prudhoe Bay remains the largest North American field by recovery..