page_title: Midway-Sunset Oil Field
section_title: Operations
hierarchical_section_title: Midway-Sunset Oil Field / Operations
caption_attribution_description: English: Midway-Sunset Cogeneration Company plant, Midway-Sunset Oil Field, Kern County, CA
context_page_description: The Midway-Sunset Oil Field is a large oil field in Kern County, San Joaquin Valley, California in the United States. It is the largest known oilfield in California and the third largest in the United States.
  The field was discovered in 1894, and through the end of 2006 had produced close to 3 billion barrels of oil. At the end of 2008 its estimated reserves amounted to approximately 532 million barrels, 18% of California's estimated total.
context_section_description: The principal operators of Midway-Sunset, as of 2008, were Aera Energy LLC and the Chevron Corporation. Other operators on the field included large firms such as Occidental Petroleum and Plains Exploration & Production, as well as numerous independents, such as Breitburn Energy, Berry Petroleum, E&B Natural Resources, Crimson Resource Management. As of the end of 2008, the most recent date for which data was available, the field contained 11,494 producing wells, more than any other oil field in California (the Kern River Field was second at 9,689). A traveler along State Route 33 between Maricopa and McKittrick will see hundreds of pumpjacks, the relatively small proportion of the oil wells that are visible from the highway.
  Several enhanced oil recovery technologies have been employed at Midway-Sunset. Since the oil is heavy, and does not flow freely, it can be assisted by thermal methods, which include steamflooding, cyclic steam, and fire flooding. Waterflooding is also used to boost reservoir pressures.
caption: Cogeneration plant, which burns gas from the field to produce steam for enhanced recovery, and also provides electricity for California's power grid.
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