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The Jaw-Dropping Potential in This American Oil Patch Could Change the World By Tyler Crowe |May 24, 2014 | It may not look like much, but this might be the biggest oil field in the world (Source: Devon Energy Media Resources).The pride and joy of Saudi Arabia's oil industry has been the Ghawar oil field, which has been recognized as the largest in the world ever since its discovery in 1948. That is, perhaps, until now. A shale oil formation deep beneath the plains of West Texas has been sitting right under our noses for years, and Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE: PXD  )...

This month Iraq will finalize contracts with the likes of ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell and BP to develop some of its biggest oil fields. These giants are among the world's last remaining pockets of so-called "easy oil." They don't require ultradeep drilling or innovative production techniques, just the application of Big Oil know-how. No wonder the oil companies agreed to develop Iraq's fields without even getting an ownership stake in the fields and collecting as little as $1.15 per barrel recovered. Given the size of Iraq's undeveloped giants there are no technical reasons why within 10 years the country can't...

JIM PUPLAVA: Joining me on the program is Matthew Simmons. He’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Simmons & Company International, a Houston-based investment bank that specializes in the energy industry. Mr. Simmons serves on the boards of Brown-Forman Corporation, The Atlantic Council of The United States, he’s also a member of the National Petroleum Council and The Council of Foreign Relations. He has an MBA from Harvard University. And he’s here to discuss his new book Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy. Matt, I want to start out the discussion from the...

There are four oil fields in the world which produce over one million barrels per day.  Ghawar, which produces 4.5 million barrels per day,  Cantarell in Mexico, which produces nearly 2 million barrels per day, Burgan in Kuwait which produces 1 million barrels per day and Da Qing in China which produces 1 million barrels per day.  Ghawar is, therefore, extremely important to the world's economy and well being.  Today the world produces 82.5 million barrels per day which means that Ghawar produces 5.5 percent of the world's daily production. Should it decline, there would be major problems.  As Ghawar...