Proven reserves of natural gas

During the period from 1950 to 1992, the worldwide proven reserves of natural gas increased at an average annual rate of approximately 6.7% (3—5). In this same period, worldwide production iacreased at an average annual rate of approximately 5.7% (5) so that the annual worldwide consumption of natural gas as of 1992 was equivalent to approximately 1.7% of the proven reserves. This suggests that the proven reserves, assuming the reserves could be deUvered to the existing world markets, could satisfy the requirements of this market for more than 50 years. However, world population is expected to iacrease and the demand for natural gas is expected to expand both ia areas that are heavily iadustrialized and ia areas where iadustrialization activities are underway. 

The proven reserves of natural gas in the United States total about 4.58 Tm (1.62 X 10 fF). Production in 1993 was about 0.51 Tm (1.8 X 10 fF). Revisions and adjustments to the existing resource base, together with modest new additions to proven reserves, have held the recent decline in reserves to about 1.6 percent per year. 

PANELIST HILL I agree. There is a real problem in trying to make these predictions. In the natural gas area it is particularly difficult because of the situation that has existed for such a long period of time wherein the Federal Power Commission was holding the wellhead price of natural gas at an extremely low and artificial price. The Federal Power Commission, in setting that price, considered only proven reserves of natural gas. In turn, proven reserves are defined as resources that can be produced at prevailing prices. A company would look at a new natural gas development decision on the basis of what gas they could get at prevailing wellhead prices and make a profit. 

Whatever the ultimate recoverable reserves may be, current estimates of proven reserves of natural gas comprise about 50 percent of U.S. proven reserves of total petroleum energy. 

Figure 5.20. Proven reserves of natural gas (unit Wy/m cf. caption to Fig. 5.15) (based upon data from World Energy Coimdl, 1995 with area-based layout from Sorensen, 1999).

Figure 5.20 shows the proven reserves of natural gas. Fig. 5.21 shows the additional reserves, and Fig. 5.22 shows the total amounts in place. 

Based on the extrapolation of the consumptions given in Table 1 and on the technologies available today, the so-called proven reserves of natural gas, crude oil and uranium will last for approximately fifty years, and those of coal for several thousand years. 

The proven reserves of natural gas in northern Alaska are estimated to be 47 trillion standard cubic feet (TSCF) and represent approximately 25% of the total U.S. reserves. The undiscovered recoverable conventional natural gas resources are estimated to 89 TSCF and additional 500 TSCF are deposited as unconventional gas hydrates. The hydrates are mostly found along the North Slope and adjacent shelf. 

The natural gas deposits on the North Slope, Alaska is a significant resource compared to the one in the continental United States. Currently, the proven reserves of natural gas in Alaska are estimated to be 47 TSCF compared to 140.0 TSCF in the lower 48 states. 

The Middle East region has the highest proven reserves of natural gas. However, the Americas still possess a relatively lower level of proven reserves. 

The methanol earbonylation process can be integrated quite naturally into a large-scale methanol plant [9], The reactant CO can be obtained readily by separation from the synthesis gas used in methanol synthesis. With the large proven reserve of natural gas in the world, this process is in a very secure position compared with the hydrocarbon-based processes. It is also easily adaptable to the use of coal as a source of raw material, since there are proven economic routes to produce synthesis gas from coal... 

Today, natural gas is the third most important fuel used worldwide, after oil and coal. Like all fossil fuels, the reserves of natural gas are far from being inexhaustible but, fortunately so far, newer fields and reserves have been identified at a faster rate than its consumption so that, overall, the proven reserves have been increasing. If the recovery of deep-ocean natural gas hydrates were to become feasible in the future, much larger reserves would be available. The uses of natural gas today can be summarized as ... 

Estimates of world reserves of natural gas are in a constant state of flux, largely because of rapid exploitation of new natural gas sources, especially tight shale deposits. A reasonable estimate of world resources as of 2012 was around 200 trillion standard cubic meters (tcm) with annual world consumption of about 3.1 tcm as of 2012. In the 3-year period of 2005-2008, almost 70% more natural gas was added to reserves in the United States than were consumed. In 2008, the United States proven reserves of shale gas increased by more than 50%, reaching a total of 13.4% of proved U.S. reserves by the year s end. 

The global reserve/production ratio for the natural gas was sixty-two years in 1999 (compared to forty-one years for crude oil, and 230 years for coal). So far about 180 Gtoe of natural gas have been extracted and found in proven reserves additional natural gas resources are conservatively estimated to total another 200-300 see British Petroleum (74) Odell, P. 1999. Fossil Fuel Resources in the 21st Century. Vienna IAEA. 

Using estimates of proven reserves and commitments to energy and chemical uses of gas resources, the net surplus of natural gas in a number of different countries that might be available for major fuel methanol projects has been determined. These are more than adequate to support methanol as a motor fuel. 

X 10 (637 X 10 bbl) of oil. As of this writing, the rate of discovery of proven natural gas reserves is increasing faster than the rate of natural gas... 

There are large concentrations of proven reserves ia specific areas of the globe such as the Middle East, North America, and the Confederation of Independent States. Thus the future of natural gas, worldwide, is dependent on the flow of natural gas across international boundaries on a long-term basis. This future is also dependent on the maintenance of an economic balance between the price of oil and the price of natural gas. 

The gas reservoirs located ia very deep waters, ia coal beds, and ia tight sands are now more accessible. Fifteen percent of the U.S. gas supply ia 1992 was derived from tight sand formations and 1.4 x 10 of coal-bed methane was added to the proven reserves (22). In 1992, U.S. proven reserves were placed at 4.67 x 10 ia the lower 48 states, and it was estimated that the identified gas resource ia the United States and Canada exceeds 3.4 X 10. Based on the 1992 rate of natural gas consumption, the United States has between 8 and 10 years of proven reserves and a domestic... 

The proven reserves of so called "conventional" natural gas have declined in recent years and the need for additional supplies and new supply options have been identified as a high priority requirement to benefit the gas consumers. Therefore, the GRI Gas Supply Program has been established to identify, evaluate, and develop new gas supplies that will guarantee abundant quantities of gaseous fuels for gas consumers in the future. To fulfill this objective the GRI Gas Supply Program has been divided into the following subprograms o Unconventional Natural Gas o SNG from Coal... 

Proven reserves of conventionally reservoired natural gas in the United States total about 5.35 Tm (189 Tft ). An additional 0.53 Tm (18.7 Tft ) of proven reserves are in coal bed methane deposits. Production in 2003 was about 0.54 Tm (19.1 Tft ), over 75 percent... 

Azerbaijan is one of the early developers of gas industry, using natural gas for industrial applications from the 1860-ies. Roughly a total of 470 bcm of natural gas has been produced in Azerbaijan over these years. Proven reserves of Azerbaijan amount to 1.37 Tcm (see Figure l). Estimated resources that are of deemed economic aggregate to approximately to 1.9 Tcm. Other sources like Cedigas have stipulated the total gas resources of Azerbaijan to some 3-5 Tcm. Owing to the uncertainty due to a low survey rate applied to a widespread area of assumed gas reservoirs [8] such an optimistic quotation may be justified. 

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