World's Top 23 Proven Oil Reserves Holders, Jan 1, 2013 -- OGJ

by David Rachovich

 

Estimated Proved Oil Reserves

Rank	Country	Proved reserves (billion barrels), Jan 1, 2013	Proved reserves (billion  barrels), Jan 1, 2012	Proved reserves (billion barrels), Jan 1, 2011	Share of total, Jan 1, 2013
1.	Venezuela^	297.6	211.2	211.2	18.2%
2.	Saudi Arabia*^	265.4	264.5	260.1	16.2%
3.	Canada	173.1	173.6	175.2	10.6%
4.	Iran^	154.6	151.2	137.0	9.4%
5.	Iraq^	141.4	143.1	115.0	8.6%
6.	Kuwait*^	101.5	101.5	101.5	6.2%
7.	United Arab Emirates^~	97.8	97.8	97.8	6.0%
8.	Russia	80.0	60.0	60.0	5.0%
9.	Libya^	48.0	47.1	46.4	2.9%
10.	Nigeria^	37.2	37.2	37.2	2.3%
11.	Kazakhstan	30.0	30.0	30.0	1.8%
12.	China	25.6	20.4	20.4	1.6%
13.	Qatar^	25.4	25.4	25.4	1.6%
14.	United States	20.7	20.7	19.1	1.3%
15.	Brazil	13.2	14.0	12.9	0.8%
16.	Algeria^	12.2	12.2	12.2	0.7%
17.	Angola^	10.5	9.5	9.5	0.6%
18.	Mexico	10.3	10.4#	10.4	0.6%
19.	Ecuador^	8.2	7.2	6.5	0.5%
20.	Azerbaijan	7.0	7.0	7.0	0.4%
21.	Oman	5.50	5.5	5.5	0.3%
22.	India	5.48	5.6#	5.7	0.3%
23.	Norway	5.37	5.32	5.7	0.3%
World total		1,637.9	1,520.1#	1,469.6	100.0
Total OPEC**		1,204.7	1,112.9	1,064.8	73.6%

Notes: Where possible, OGJ uses data from its surveys and published official estimates. Most reserves estimates come from governments, which control most reserves. Government reserves estimates frequently are influenced by geopolitical pressures. Two big reserves increases this year are from countries where geopolitical controversy is routine: Iran and Venezuela. Having moved large volumes of extra-heavy crude oil into the reserves classification in recent years, Venezuela claims 298 billion bbl. Iran has raised its reserves estimate to 154.6 billion bbl. For Russia, which doesn't disclose country reserves, estimates vary greatly. OGJ has been conservative in its estimates for Russia but this year increases its estimate by one-third for the world's top producing country to 80 billion bbl. Although many giant Russian fields are mature, the country is considered underexplored, underdeveloped, and amenable to improved production efficiency with the growing application of modern technology. Moreover, a push into the Russian Arctic offshore is set to begin. For the US, OGJ relies on what had been annual reserves estimates by the Energy Information Administration. Because of budget cuts, however, EIA hasn't updated its reserves estimates … . The estimate here therefore is unchanged. For China, where exploration is active on a number of fronts, the oil reserves estimate is up about 5 billion bbl at 25.6 billion bbl. Please read "Global oil production up in 2012 as reserves estimates rise again,"OGJ, Dec. 3, 2012. Proved/proven oil reserves - Generally taken to be those quantities that geological and engineering information indicates with reasonable certainty can be recovered in the future from known reservoirs under existing economic and operating conditions.

*Excluding one-half of the reserves in the Neutral Zone.

^OPEC member.

~Including Abu Dhabi – 92.2, Dubai – 4.0, Sharjah – 1.5 and Ras al-Khaimah – 0.1.
**OPEC has a total of 12 member countries: Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela. Rounding out the total OPEC reserves are the Kuwait-Saudi Arabia's Neutral Zone reserves of 5 billion bbl.

#Revised figure.

Sources: "Worldwide Look at Reserves and Production [Table]," Oil & Gas Journal, Dec, 2012; and previous reports.

(Also, please see my post "World's Top 23 Proven Oil Reserves Holders, Jan 1, 2012 -- OGJ," our post "World's Top 22 Proven Oil Reserves Holders, Jan 1, 2011 -- OGJ" and my post "Top 12 Proven Oil Reserves Holders in Africa, Jan 1, 2013 -- OGJ. " -- D.R.)   

Mid 2012 Ranking of the World's Biggest Oil & Gas Companies -- Forbes

by David Rachovich

World's Top 25 Oil and Gas Companies

Rank	Company	Production Volumes* (million barrels per day)
1.	Saudi Aramco (Saudi Arabia)	12.5
2.	Gazprom (Russia)	9.7
3.	NIOC (Iran)	6.4
4.	ExxonMobil Corp. (USA)	5.3
5.	PetroChina (China)	4.4
6.	BP (UK)	4.1
7.	Royal Dutch/Shell (NL/UK)	3.9
8.	Pemex (Mexico)	3.6
9.	Chevron Corp. (USA)	3.5
10.	KPC (Kuwait)	3.2
11.	ADNOC (UAE)	2.9
12.	Sonatrach (Algeria)	2.7
13.	Total (France)	2.7
14.	Petrobras (Brazil)	2.6
15.	Rosneft (Russia)	2.6
16.	MoO (Iraq)	2.3
17.	QP (Qatar)	2.3
18.	Lukoil (Russia)	2.2
19.	Eni (Italy)	2.2
20.	Statoil (Norway)	2.1
21.	ConocoPhillips (USA)	2.0
22.	PDVSA (Venezuela)	1.9
23.	Sinopec (China)	1.6
24.	NNPC (Nigeria)	1.4
25.	Petronas (Malaysia)	1.4

*2012 working interest production volumes calculated by Wood Mackenzie reflects oil plus the energy equivalent in natural gas.
Source: Christopher Helman, "The World's Biggest Oil Companies," Forbes, July 16, 2012

(Also, please see the world's largest oil and gas companies by oil and gas production, oil and gas reserves, product sales and refinery distillation capacity, i.e., PIW rankings: "[Petroleum Intelligence Weekly Ranks World's Top 50 Oil Companies -- ] Suncor Up, ConocoPhillips Down in PIW`s New Top 50 Oil Rankings." And PFC Energy ranking of the biggest publicly-traded energy companies, based mainly on capital market performance: "PFC Energy 50 Ranking of World’s Top Energy Companies." Furthermore, please see Platts Top 250 Global Energy Company Rankings/my post incl update, which reflect fiscal year financial performance of companies in four key areas: asset value, revenues, profits and return on invested capital/ROIC. Update: "2013 Ranking of the World's Biggest Oil Companies - Forbes" -- D.R.)

U.S. [Weekly Crude] Oil Production Increases to Highest Since December 1994

By Asjylyn Loder, Bloomberg, Nov 7, 2012
U.S. [crude -- D.R.] oil production rose to the highest in almost 18 years as a shale drilling boom cut reliance on foreign fuel and nudged the country closer to energy independence.

Output swelled by 8,000 barrels to 6.68 million barrels a day in the week ended Nov. 2, the Energy Department reported today. It was the most since [the week of -- D.R.] Dec. 23, 1994 [, when crude output topped 6.7 million b/d---please see Argus. Also, please see EIA data on weekly U.S. field production of crude oil, Jan 7, 1983 - Nov 2, 2012. -- D.R.]. Improvements in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, have unlocked fuel trapped in deep underground rock formations in states such as North Dakota, Texas and Oklahoma. [The volume of crude flowing from US onshore and offshore wells is up more than 14 percent, or 830,000 b/d, over the same time last year, mostly due to an unconventional oil boom in several shale formations, including the Eagle Ford of south Texas, the Permian basin in west Texas and North Dakota's Bakken---please see Argus -- D.R.]. 

The U.S. met 83% of its energy needs in first six months of 2012, on track to be the highest annual level since 1991, according to department data compiled by Bloomberg. Production advanced 31 percent this year in North Dakota, 19 percent in Texas and 11 percent in Oklahoma, department records show. Crude imports have declined 11 percent this year.

“Every added barrel we make here is another barrel we don’t need from somewhere else,” said Kyle Cooper, director of commodities research at IAF Advisors, a Houston consulting firm.“U.S. production could reach 9 million to 10 million barrels per day in another five to 10 years.” [Read Full]

(According to EIA, U.S. crude oil production, including lease condensate, averaged almost 6.5 million barrels per day in September 2012, i.e., 6,468,000 barrels per day -- D.R., the highest volume in nearly 15 years. EIA maintains the last time the United States produced 6.5 million barrels per day or more of crude oil was in January 1998, sic >> my remark -- was in April 1998 when it produced 6,483,000 barrels per day -- D.R. Since September 2011, U.S. production has increased by more than 900,000 barrels per day. Most of that increase is due to production from oil-bearing rocks with very low permeability through the use of horizontal drilling combined with hydraulic fracturing. The states with the largest increases are Texas and North Dakota. From September 2011 to September 2012, Texas production increased by more than 500,000 barrels per day, and North Dakota production increased by more than 250,000 barrels per day. Texas's increase in production is largely from the Eagle Ford formation in South Texas and the Permian Basin in West Texas. North Dakota's increase in oil production comes from the Bakken formation in the Williston Basin. Increased production from smaller-volume producing states, such as Oklahoma, New Mexico, Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah, is also contributing to the rise in domestic crude oil production---please see EIA,"U.S. Monthly Crude Oil Production Reaches Highest Level since 1998," Today in Energy, Dec 4, 2012. Wood Mackenzie Ltd. calculates oil and gas companies will spend $28 billion in the South Texas Eagle Ford play during 2013---please see OGJ, Dec 6, 2012.
The U.S. is set to become the biggest oil producer by 2020, according to the International Energy Agency/IEA. Within 10 years, U.S. oil imports will drop to about 4 million barrels a day from a current average of 10 million, thanks to new oil production in the U.S. and stricter fuel-efficiency standards for cars and trucks, IEA Chief Economist Fatih Birol said at a London press conference on Nov. 12, 2012. The U.S. will pump 11.1 million barrels of oil a day in 2020 and 10.9 million in 2025, according to the IEA. Those figures are 500,000 barrels and 100,000 barrels higher, respectively, than its forecasts for Saudi Arabia for those years. The U.S. is not destined to become the next Saudi Arabia, though.[...] The U.S. will be the world’s top producer for about five years, starting in 2020. Sometime after that, U.S. production will slip behind Saudi Arabia’s again, according to the IEA’s Birol---please see this interesting forecast: "Is It Time for the U.S. to Join OPEC?," BloombergBusinessweek, Nov 15, 2012. Also, please see our article "U.S. Crude Oil Production, 1970-2011" and my posts: "Texas Crude Oil Production, Jan 2007-Jul 2012," "U.S. Crude Oil Production in First Quarter of 2012 Highest in 14 Years," "North Dakota Tops Alaska in Oil Production, Trailing Only Texas," "Five States Accounted for about 56% of Total U.S. Crude Oil Production in 2011." -- D.R.)