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Oil reserves may raise false US hopes
By Sheila McNulty in Houston
Published: July 15 2008 21:40 * Last updated: July 15 2008 21:40
No one knows the extent of US oil and natural gas reserves in the offshore and Arctic areas that are off-limits to drilling. The last time they were surveyed was in the 1980s and the technology then used is no longer considered accurate, say industry experts.
“The youngest seismic [tests] in some of these areas is 25 years old,” said Bobby Ryan, Chevron’s vice-president for global exploration.
So even though President George W. Bush on Monday lifted a presidential ban on drilling on the US outer continental shelf, it does not mean a big jump in US production is in the offing.
Not only must Congress lift a separate ban imposed in the 1980s but the industry must survey the area with new technology to see what is there.
When the latest data on protected areas were gathered, they were collected in pockets instead of across a wide area, as is done now, which makes them much less comprehensive and gives less precise results. The analysis of the data was also relatively primitive. So estimates of an extra 2m-3m barrels of oil a day – roughly the equivalent of the daily output of Venezuela – might be some way off.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c985b0c8-52a6-11dd-9ba7-000077b07658.html?nclick_check=1
By Sheila McNulty in Houston
Published: July 15 2008 21:40 * Last updated: July 15 2008 21:40
No one knows the extent of US oil and natural gas reserves in the offshore and Arctic areas that are off-limits to drilling. The last time they were surveyed was in the 1980s and the technology then used is no longer considered accurate, say industry experts.
“The youngest seismic [tests] in some of these areas is 25 years old,” said Bobby Ryan, Chevron’s vice-president for global exploration.
So even though President George W. Bush on Monday lifted a presidential ban on drilling on the US outer continental shelf, it does not mean a big jump in US production is in the offing.
Not only must Congress lift a separate ban imposed in the 1980s but the industry must survey the area with new technology to see what is there.
When the latest data on protected areas were gathered, they were collected in pockets instead of across a wide area, as is done now, which makes them much less comprehensive and gives less precise results. The analysis of the data was also relatively primitive. So estimates of an extra 2m-3m barrels of oil a day – roughly the equivalent of the daily output of Venezuela – might be some way off.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c985b0c8-52a6-11dd-9ba7-000077b07658.html?nclick_check=1
