Burgan Field

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Burgan Field

For the plant known as Burgan, see Kunzea ericoides.

The onshore Burgan Field in the desert of southeastern Kuwait
Kuwait

The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab emirate on the coast of the Persian Gulf, enclosed by Saudi Arabia to the south and Iraq to the north and west....
is one of the world's largest and richest oil field
Oil field

An oil field is a region with an abundance of oil wells extracting petroleum from below ground. Because the oil reservoirs typically extend over a large area, possibly several hundred kilometres across, full exploitation entails multiple wells scattered across the area....
s.

Discovery
After its discovery in February, 1938, the USA & UK owned Gulf Oil Corporation began commercial oil production at Burgan in 1946.

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Encyclopedia

For the plant known as Burgan, see Kunzea ericoides.

The onshore Burgan Field in the desert of southeastern Kuwait
Kuwait

The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab emirate on the coast of the Persian Gulf, enclosed by Saudi Arabia to the south and Iraq to the north and west....
is one of the world's largest and richest oil field
Oil field

An oil field is a region with an abundance of oil wells extracting petroleum from below ground. Because the oil reservoirs typically extend over a large area, possibly several hundred kilometres across, full exploitation entails multiple wells scattered across the area....
s.

Discovery

After its discovery in February, 1938, the USA & UK owned Gulf Oil Corporation began commercial oil production at Burgan in 1946. Kabeer Burgan is so rich that it is one of the world's easiest production sites. There are no rising and falling oil derricks at Burgan like the ones seen at other oil fields. That is because oil practically flows to the surface on its own. Burgan has helped Kuwait become one of the largest oil exporters on the planet. Burgan accounts for more than half of Kuwait's proven oil reserves.

Production capacity

The total oil production capacity of Burgan Field has been somewhat controversial. The US Energy Information Administration
Energy Information Administration

The United States Energy Information Administration , created by United States Congress in 1977, is the independent statistical agency within the United States Department of Energy....
estimates that the Greater Burgan field, including the Burgan, Magwa, and Ahmadi structures has a production capacity of around . On the other hand, Simmons & Co. estimates Burgan field produces 2.2 mbd.

Iraq war

In 1991, retreating Iraqi soldiers set Burgan Field on fire
Kuwaiti oil fires

The Kuwaiti oil fires were a result of the scorched earth policy of Iraqi Military of Iraq retreating from Kuwait in 1991 after conquering the country but being driven out by Coalition of Gulf War military forces ....
. Smoke plumes from the Greater Burgan oil field extended 50 kilometers in width on any given day, and 2.5 km thick. From satellite observations the plume appeared like a black snake in the desert that extended parallel to the Persian Gulf (EOS Project NASA
NASA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an agency of the Federal government of the United States, responsible for the nation's public list of space agencies....
Goddard Space Flight Center
Goddard Space Flight Center

File:Goddard aerial.gifThe Goddard Space Flight Center is a major NASA space research laboratory established on May 1, 1959 as NASA's first space flight center....
). The Red Adair Service and Marine Company extinguished 117 of the burning oilwell fires, while Canadian company Safety Boss
Safety Boss

Safety Boss is an oil well fire fighting company based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.The company and its CEO, Mike Miller , became most famous by becoming the number one fire-fighting company in Kuwait after the 1991 Gulf War....
set the pace with 180 wells extinguished. Declassified 1991 USA CIA document
Document

A document is a bounded physical representation of body of information designed with the capacity to communication. A document may manifest symbolic, diagrammatic or sensory-representational information....
s showed that despite the destruction there was no significant depletion of the oil reserves and production capacity of Burgan field. Most of Burgan Field was rebuilt, but three gathering stations were too badly damaged to repair and remained as unofficial monuments to the destruction.

Current production

In November 2005, Farouk Al Zanki, Chairman of state-owned Kuwait Oil, reported that the Burgan oil field production levels are running down. Burgan will now produce 1.7 mbpd rather than 2 mbpd for the rest of its 30 to 40 years. He said that engineers had tried to maintain but that 1.7 million is the optimum rate.

See also

Hubbert Peak Theory
Hubbert peak theory

The Hubbert peak theory posits that for any given geographical area, from an individual oil-producing region to the planet as a whole, the rate of petroleum production tends to follow a bell-shaped curve....
List of oil fields
List of oil fields

This list of oil fields includes some major oil fields of the past and present. The list is incomplete; there are more than 40,000 petroleum and natural gas fields of all sizes in the world....

External links

by Matthew Simmons
Matthew Simmons

Matthew Simmons, chairman and Chief executive officer of Simmons & Company International, is a prominent oil-industry insider and one of the world's leading experts on the topic of peak oil....
Research Report of Simmons & Co. International