Source: adapted from M. Simmons (2008). Oil reserves come in two forms: The availability of oil resources is correlated with market price and technology. Like many resources, quality (often measured in the level of concentration) is inversely proportional to quantity. High-quality oil and gas resources have mostly been tapped, leaving
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Reserves and Total Resources
Considering the finite aspect of the world, there is a fixed quantity of resources, often referred to as total resources. Based upon what has been discovered and its cost of recovery, only a segment of the total resources can be considered as reserves. Thus, reserves are resources that are available
Petroleum Production, Consumption and Imports, United States, 1949-2016
Source: US Energy Information Agency, International Energy Annual Report. The United States has different levels of energy dependency (production over consumption) according to the source of energy. It is self-sufficient for coal but must rely on imports for petroleum, particularly since it may be beyond its own peak oil, where
Nominal and Real Oil Price, 1870-2016 (Dollars per Barrel)
Source: BP Statistical Review of World Energy. Note: Real prices are in 2016 dollars (adjusted for inflation) while nominal prices are in dollars of the time. Historically, oil prices in real terms (in today’s money) have remained remarkably stable, hovering in the range of 10 to 20 dollars per barrel.
Oil Production of Some Declining Regions, 1973-2016
Source: EIA, Table 11.1b. Penmex Statistical Yearbook, North Sea is Norway, Denmark and the UK. Several oil fields around the world have experienced a decline due to a gradual exhaustion of their reserves. The Third Oil Shock (2003-2008) corresponded to the joint decline in the production of several regions in
Crude Oil Production and Consumption, China, 1980-2016
Source: BP Statistical Review of World Energy. Note: in 1,000 of barrels per day. Up to the mid 1990s China was producing more oil than it was consuming, which permitted a level of energy self sufficiency. However, strong economic growth related to an export-oriented economy substantially increased demand. Additionally in the
Share of OPEC and the Persian Gulf in the World Crude Oil Production, 1960-2016
Source: BP Statistical Review of World Energy. Persian Gulf includes Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Since the first Oil Shock (1973), the share of world oil production controlled by OPEC members fluctuated to a peak of 52% in 1973 to a low of 28%
Estimated Oil Reserves, Selected OPEC Countries, 1980-1991 (billions of barrels)
Source: US Energy Information Agency, International Energy Annual Report. The reserves reported by several OPEC countries surged during the 1980s. What is unusual about this surge is that it was sudden, without the discovery of any significant new oil fields and taking place in a context of declining oil prices.
United States Strategic Petroleum Reserves, 1977-2023
Source: US Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration, International Energy Annual Report. As a consequence of the First Oil Shock, the U.S. Government (Department of Energy) initiated the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) program in 1976. In an age of growing oil dependency and instability of international markets, it was perceived
OPEC Members and Countries with more than 10 Billion Barrels of Oil Reserves
OPEC includes 12 members on 3 continents. The founding members (1960) are Venezuela, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait who are all still part of OPEC. Several other oil-producing nations joined thereafter the organization: Qatar (1961), Indonesia (1962-2009; it ceased to be a net oil exporter), Libya (1969), Algeria (1970),