This is the fourth of a four-decade series of Memoirs commemorating important giant discoveries. The 18-chapter book presents major trends that characterized giant-field discoveries in the 1990s and includes tectonic and sedimentary-basin maps. Regions discussed are South America, North America, Australasia, Africa, the former Soviet Union, the Mideast, Southeast Asia, and the Far East.

With the exception of two chapters, the Memoir is based on two sessions presented at the AAPG Annual Meeting 2001: An Energy Odyssey, held in Denver, Colorado. The sessions were titled "AAPG: Giant Oil and Gas Fields of the Decade: I and II." Halbouty was session general chairman. Myron K. Horn, Robert K. Merrill, and Jerome A. Eyer were cochairmen.