WorldOil

Establishing reserves for unconventional oil: Reason vs. definition

The short answer to both of the above questions is “Of course not.” But when the overwhelming majority of such reserves are not being developed, some skepticism is in order as to whether they are truly proved undeveloped. After all, if they are economically developable using today’s technology, under present conditions of price and governmental policy, then one must ask why the vast majority of such reserves are just lying there. If, by the definition of proved, it isn’t prices or economics, then what is the problem? There are only two organizations that systematically gather and publish information on world oil and gas reserves. Both of them are trade journals; World Oil is one of them, OGJ is the other. This reserves data is then repeated in numerous publications and by national and international agencies. Sometimes, a particular country’s numbers are altered when they are republished, because the organization may have better information than the trade journals.