148 PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY, ECONOMICS, AND POLITICS
estimates indicate that the combined production and shipping costs
were on the order of $0.40 per barrel.
By the end of the 1960s, the seven sisters remained the dominant
companies in world oil. Between 1960 and 1966, their share of oil
production outside North America and the Communist countries
had actually gone up from 72 to 76%, leaving only 24% for all other
companies (Penrose, 1969). The seven sisters had built themselves up
into some of the biggest corporations in history, primarily through
the ownership of concessions in developing countries, and predominantly in the Middle East. As a result, refinery complexes rose up
along the coastlines and it even appeared that the companies inhabited a place between governments and business (Hartshorn, 1962).
By 1970, 94% of domestic oil reserves in the United States were
held by only 20 companies. The top eight oil companies in terms
of their holdings of domestic oil reserves were also the top eight in
production, the top eight in refining, and the top eight in marketing:
Exxon, Mobil, Texaco, Chevron, Gulf, Shell, Amoco, and ARCO.
In 1972, two of the seven sisters, Exxon and Shell, dominated the
world's oil as well as the petroleum industry (Table 5.1). Mobil was
long regarded as Exxon's little sister, dependent on her bigger rival
both for advice and for oil. Now, Exxon owns Mobil, and the name
may soon disappear from the ExxonMobil logo.
5.4 Reserve Estimates
Most estimates of the quantity of conventional oil resources remaining are based on the opinions of geologists and other scientists or
engineers familiar with a particular region (Table 5.2) (Chapter 2).
The ultimate recoverable resource (URR) is the total quantity of oil
that will ever be produced, including the nearly one trillion barrels
extracted to date (Chapter 1). Recent estimates of ultimate recoverable resource for the world have tended to fall into two categories.
Lower estimates indicate that the ultimate recoverable resource is
no greater than about 2.3 trillion (2.3 x 10
9
) barrels, and may even
be less (Campbell and Laherrère, 1998). A higher estimate of the
ultimate recoverable resource is 3 trillion (3.0 x 10
9
) barrels and
may be as much as 4 trillion (4.0 x 10
9
) barrels of oil (USGS, 2000,
2003). About half of the approximate 1.4 trillion (1.4 x 10
9
) barrels
that are predicted by the United States Geological Survey to remain
to be discovered are from new discoveries and about half are from
estimates indicate that the combined production and shipping costs
were on the order of $0.40 per barrel.
By the end of the 1960s, the seven sisters remained the dominant
companies in world oil. Between 1960 and 1966, their share of oil
production outside North America and the Communist countries
had actually gone up from 72 to 76%, leaving only 24% for all other
companies (Penrose, 1969). The seven sisters had built themselves up
into some of the biggest corporations in history, primarily through
the ownership of concessions in developing countries, and predominantly in the Middle East. As a result, refinery complexes rose up
along the coastlines and it even appeared that the companies inhabited a place between governments and business (Hartshorn, 1962).
By 1970, 94% of domestic oil reserves in the United States were
held by only 20 companies. The top eight oil companies in terms
of their holdings of domestic oil reserves were also the top eight in
production, the top eight in refining, and the top eight in marketing:
Exxon, Mobil, Texaco, Chevron, Gulf, Shell, Amoco, and ARCO.
In 1972, two of the seven sisters, Exxon and Shell, dominated the
world's oil as well as the petroleum industry (Table 5.1). Mobil was
long regarded as Exxon's little sister, dependent on her bigger rival
both for advice and for oil. Now, Exxon owns Mobil, and the name
may soon disappear from the ExxonMobil logo.
5.4 Reserve Estimates
Most estimates of the quantity of conventional oil resources remaining are based on the opinions of geologists and other scientists or
engineers familiar with a particular region (Table 5.2) (Chapter 2).
The ultimate recoverable resource (URR) is the total quantity of oil
that will ever be produced, including the nearly one trillion barrels
extracted to date (Chapter 1). Recent estimates of ultimate recoverable resource for the world have tended to fall into two categories.
Lower estimates indicate that the ultimate recoverable resource is
no greater than about 2.3 trillion (2.3 x 10
9
) barrels, and may even
be less (Campbell and Laherrère, 1998). A higher estimate of the
ultimate recoverable resource is 3 trillion (3.0 x 10
9
) barrels and
may be as much as 4 trillion (4.0 x 10
9
) barrels of oil (USGS, 2000,
2003). About half of the approximate 1.4 trillion (1.4 x 10
9
) barrels
that are predicted by the United States Geological Survey to remain
to be discovered are from new discoveries and about half are from