Venezuela has the highest crude reserves in the world
A report published by The Wall Street Journal on its front page raised eyebrows on Wednesday for its claim that new technology has allowed multinational energy companies to reassess the amount of recoverable reserves in oil-rich countries.
According to staff reporter Russell Gold, deposits once dismissed as “unconventional” oil that could not be recovered economically are now, thanks to rising global oil prices and improved technology, being counted as recoverable reserves.
“That recalculation”, writes Gold, “has vaulted Venezuela and Canada to first and third in global reserves rankings, respectively, although Venezuela’s holdings in extra-heavy crude are a rough guess”.
The report asserts that Vene-zuela’s reserves in heavy and extra-heavy crude – 235 billion barrels approximately – are easier to be developed from a technical point of view than in other countries, due to their physical location.
A press release issued by Pe-tróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA), the state-run oil company, indicated that these new findings ratify the importance of Vene-zuela as the country with the highest crude reserves worldwide. PDVSA has been working with 6 multinational companies on its Proyecto Magna Reserva, designed to assess and certify reserves at the Orinoco Tar Belt.
In an interview with The Daily Journal, Bob Tippee, Editor-in-Chief of The Oil and Gas Journal, said that for Venezuela to exploit these heavy reserves, it will have to invest a massive amount of money intro the country’s energy infrastructure, something Tippee sees as a looming problem.
Multinational British Petroleum’s 2004 Statistical Review for World Energy estimated Venezuela’s total reserves at 77,2 billion barrels, or 6.5% of the world total.
According to staff reporter Russell Gold, deposits once dismissed as “unconventional” oil that could not be recovered economically are now, thanks to rising global oil prices and improved technology, being counted as recoverable reserves.
“That recalculation”, writes Gold, “has vaulted Venezuela and Canada to first and third in global reserves rankings, respectively, although Venezuela’s holdings in extra-heavy crude are a rough guess”.
The report asserts that Vene-zuela’s reserves in heavy and extra-heavy crude – 235 billion barrels approximately – are easier to be developed from a technical point of view than in other countries, due to their physical location.
A press release issued by Pe-tróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA), the state-run oil company, indicated that these new findings ratify the importance of Vene-zuela as the country with the highest crude reserves worldwide. PDVSA has been working with 6 multinational companies on its Proyecto Magna Reserva, designed to assess and certify reserves at the Orinoco Tar Belt.
In an interview with The Daily Journal, Bob Tippee, Editor-in-Chief of The Oil and Gas Journal, said that for Venezuela to exploit these heavy reserves, it will have to invest a massive amount of money intro the country’s energy infrastructure, something Tippee sees as a looming problem.
Multinational British Petroleum’s 2004 Statistical Review for World Energy estimated Venezuela’s total reserves at 77,2 billion barrels, or 6.5% of the world total.
posted by Alice at
Thursday, March 30, 2006
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