The Elk Hills oil field, generally regarded as the third largest oil field in the United States, is in southwestern Kern County, California, on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley. It is on a large surface anticline that extends into the valley from the Temblor Range on the west. Most of the oil is in lenticular sandstones of Miocene and Pliocene ages, and stratigraphic conditions control the position of the oil on the structure. The Elk Hills field is also Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 1 and, for that reason, production is restricted. The field is a unitized operation of the U.S. Navy and Standard Oil Company of California. The Elk Hills filed has not been fully explored, but has recoverable reserves presently estimated at more than 1 billion bbl.

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