Petroleum reserves

As shown in Table 8, U.S. distribution of oil and natural gas reserves is centered in Alaska, Cahfomia, Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and the U.S. outer-continental shelf. Alaska reserves include both the Pmdhoe Bay deposits and the Cook Inlet fields. Cahfomia deposits include those in Santa Barbara, the Wilmington Eield, the Elk Hills Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 1 at Bakersfield, and other offshore oil deposits. The Yates Pield, Austin Chalk formation, and Permian Basin are among the producing sources of petroleum and natural gas in Texas. 

The decrease in petroleum and natural gas reserves has encouraged interest in and discovery and development of unconventional sources of these hydrocarbons. Principal alternatives to conventional petroleum reserves include oil shale (qv) and tar sands (qv). Oil shale reserves in the United States are estimated at 20,000 EJ (19.4 x 10 Btu) and estimates of tar sands and oil sands reserves are on the order of 11 EJ (10 x 10 Btu) (see Tarsands Shale oil). Of particular interest are the McKittrick, EeUows, and Taft quadrangles of Cahfomia, the Asphalt Ridge area of Utah, the Asphalt, Kentucky area, and related geographic regions. 

Heavy cmde oil is widely distributed, and it is difficult to estimate reserves separate from normal cmde oil reserves or from tar sands deposits. Estimates of petroleum reserves frequendy include a large heavy oil component, which can only be produced at significantly higher cost than light oil. 

Proved reserves are estimates of petroleum reserves contained primarily in the drilled portion of fields. 

By far the largest known concentrations of conventional petroleum reserves are in the Middle East, particularly in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait (Table 1). The largest concentration of reserves is in the Burgan field (10.2 x 10 (64.2 x 10 bbl)) in Kuwait (10), which... 

Table 2. Estimates of Proved Petroleum Reserves in Parts of Western Europe...

Perhaps the biggest contribution that technological advancement in petroleum production will make is bringing large volumes of unconventional petroleum resources, eg, heavy oil and tar sands, into a viable economic realm by lowering the unit cost of production. Compared to the inventory of conventional petroleum reserves and undiscovered resources, the physical inventories of such unconventional petroleum resources are extremely large for example, the Athabasca tar sands in Alberta, Canada, are estimated to contain 360 x 10 m (2250 x 10 bbl) of in-place petroleum (19). This volume is equivalent to the total inventory, ie, the combined cumulative production, reserves, and undiscovered resources, of world conventional cmde petroleum. In... 

C. D. Masters, E. D. Attanasi, and D. H. Root, "World Petroleum Reserves and Analysis," World Petroleum Congress Proceedings, in press. 

The raw materials for calcium carbide are lime, coke, and electric power (Figure 7.2-3). Thus calcium carbide production is suitable for a country with hydroelectric power but lacks petroleum reserves. Calcium carbide generates acetylene when. icted upon by water. The quantity produced may be small such as using the bright flame of acetylene for... 

We need to know about the quantity and quality of oil and gas reseiwes because the prosperity of the world is dependent upon petroleum-based fuels. The debate about forthcoming oil shortages—as soon as 2004 or perhaps later in the twenty-first century— hinges on our understanding of petroleum reserves and future resources. Global catastrophic changes are predicted by some if a shortage occurs early in the twenty-first century however, others are less concerned, because of new estimates of reseiwes and potential petroleum resources. 

Our concepts of petroleum reserves and resources and their measurements are changing to reflect the uncertainty associated with these terms. Petroleum reseiwes have been largely calculated deterministically (i.e. single point estimates with the assumption of certainty). In the past decade, reseiwe and resource calculations have incorporated uncertainty into their estimates using probabilistic methodologies. One of the questions now being addressed are such as how certain arc you that the rcsciwcs you estimate arc the actual reseiwes and what is the range of uncertainty associated with that estimate New techniques arc required to address the critical question of how much petroleum we have and under what conditions it can be developed. 

It is well known that reseive estimates made early in the development of a field are often wi ong and that there s a 50 percent change in estimated ultimate recovery in many fields during the first ten years. In addition, the average field lifetime has been a decade longer than initially expected in the North Sea. If you believe in reserve growth, you would conclude that there will not be a petroleum crisis anytime soon. If, on the other hand, you believe that reserves have been overstated and you make negative revisions to reserve estimates, there rvill be a crisis soon. Current known petroleum reserves (proved + P50 probable) in the world are 1.44 trillion barrels of oil, 5,845 trillion cubic feet of gas, and 80 billion barrels of natural... 

The increased energy demand, depletion of petroleum reserves, as well as major concerns of rising greenhouse gas emissions make the implementation of alternative and renewable sources of energy a cracial issue worldwide. 

Osadetz, K.G., Morrell, G.R., Dixon, J., Dietrich, J.R., Snowdon, I.R., Dallimore, S.R., Majorowicz, J.A. 2005. Beaufort-Mackenzie Basin A review of conventional and nonconventional (gas hydrate) petroleum reserves and undiscovered resources. Geological Survey of Canada, Bulletin 585. 

Indicated petroleum reserves, 18 595 Indicator pH determination method, 14 24, 25... 

Inferred petroleum reserves, 18 595 Infinite dilution coefficients, 8 743 Infinite heat-transfer surface area, 13 253 Infinity point, 14 611... 

See also WPI database World petroleum reserves, 18 596 World petroleum supply, 18 601... 

U.S. dependence upon imported oil could grow faster depending on oil availability. The petroleum reserves in the U.S. could be depleted more rapidly but U.S. reserves, which were once about as large as Saudi Arabia s, have been depleted to the point where some believe that we now have less than 3% of the world s remaining oil reserves. The U.S. uses oil at a rate that amounts to more than 25% of the world s production, but both U.S. and world reserves have been growing as improved recovery techniques are applied to older fields. 

Since the early 1900s, the Naval Petroleum Reserves program has controlled oil bearing lands owned by the U.S. government. The program was intended to provide U.S. naval vessels with an assured source of fuel. The Naval Petroleum Reserves operated three major oil fields located in California and Wyoming. 

Today, the Naval Petroleum Reserves manages closeout activities for the Elk Hills Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 1, located in California, and coordinates public and private initiatives related to oil shale demonstration and development programs from its headquarters in Washington, D.C. 

For most of the 20th century, the Naval Petroleum and Oil Shale Reserves served as a contingency source of fuel for the Nation s military. All that changed in 1998 when Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 1, known as Elk Hills, was privatized, the first in a series of major changes that leaves only two of the original six federal properties in the program. 

In 1995 the Clinton Administration proposed placing the federally-owned Elk Hills Naval Petroleum Reserve on the market as part of its efforts to reduce the size of government and return inherently non-fed-eral functions to the private sector. In 1996, the Congress passed and the President signed the Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1996 containing authorization to proceed with the sale. In 1998 the Department of Energy sold Elk Hills to Occidental Petroleum for 3.65 Billion. 

The DOE still retains oversight of two Naval Petroleum Reserve properties and one technology testing center Teapot Dome Naval Petroleum Reserve 3 in Wyoming and a small stripper well oil field with 540 wells. The Rocky Mountain Oilfield Testing Center identifies and resolves technical and environmental issues associated with the production, distribution and use of the nation s energy resources. It was established in 1994 and is the only oil field testing center in the United States. 

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