EIA's 2012 Domestic Reserves | Russell T. Rudy Energy LLC
“Rigzone” reports that according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), domestic oil reserves reached their highest levels since 1976. Proven (technically and commercially recoverable) oil reserves were boosted by shale plays in Texas and North Dakota, but gas reserves tumbled.
Oil reserves increased by 6.9 billion barrels due to new discoveries, extensions of old fields, revisions, and adjustments to previous estimates. These were partially offset by production of 2.4 billion barrels for a net increase of proven reserves of 4.5 billion.
The Eagle Ford shale in Texas had 3.4 billion barrels of reserves and the Bakken in North Dakota 3.2 billion. The largest discoveries in 2012 were in Texas, North Dakota and Oklahoma. North Dakota’s Bakken discoveries moved it up to third place among U.S. states surpassing Alaska and California in terms of reserves. The Prairie State is only exceeded by Texas and the Gulf of Mexico which the EIA treats as a state in terms of reserves.
In spite of these significant reserve increases, the U.S. with 33 billion barrels is not even in the top 10 nations in the world. We have less than half the reserves of number 8 Russia which has 87 billion. The top 5 countries have over 1 trillion barrels in reserves.
Meanwhile, U.S. gas production reached record levels. This resulted in reserves falling by 7.5% because falling prices resulted in downward revisions of reserves, and new gas wells were no longer economically viable. Also, the Marcellus shale in Pennsylvania and West Virginia surpassed the Barnett in Texas in terms of reserves.
To read the article in its entirety, please go to http://www.rigzone.com/news/oil_gas/a/132510/EIA .
