Proven Oil Reserves, 1980-2016 (thousand million barrels)

Source: BP Statistical Review of World Energy. Oil reserves show an acute geographical concentration as 47% of them are in the Middle East alone, which is a small region. Exports of petroleum from OPEC countries have generated considerable incomes over the last decades, but this wealth is temporary as OPEC

Major Crude Oil Reserves, 2000-2020

Source: BP Statistical Review of World Energy. The geographical imbalance in oil reserves is similar to production. From a long-term perspective, OPEC countries account for most oil reserves. Saudi Arabia alone had about 25% of the world’s oil reserves until recently. Still, changes in the evaluation of oil reserves have

Types of Oil and Gas Reserves

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

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%