56 PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY, ECONOMICS, AND POLITICS
alternative energies at the forefront of the political agenda worldwide. At such a time, reliable data is an invaluable tool for decision
makers and analysts both inside and outside the industry. World
economic growth has faltered as a result of fluctuation in energy
prices and the market turmoil that began in the summer of 2008 has
continued and is likely to continue for the next year or so.
The oil price has been on an upward path for more than six years
and the hiccup of the current downward price spiral highlights the
interconnected nature of the energy markets. In fact, it is only a
matter of time before energy-consuming countries decide that the
way around this is to produce energy from other sources. And, this
has already commenced. Once this happens is a substantial way,
OPEC will be at the mercy of the oil consumers.
Crude oil reserves are 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 conditions, but which also include gas condensate
and natural gas liquids (NGLs) as well as crude oil (BP, 2010).
This data may not necessarily meet the definitions, guidelines,
and practices used for determining proved reserves at company
level as published by the US Securities and Exchange Commission
(BP, 2010).
The natural gas reserves estimates have been compiled using a
combination of primary official sources and third party data from
Cedigaz and the OPEC Secretariat, and, again, the data may not
necessarily meet the definitions, guidelines, and practices used for
determining proved reserves at company level as published by the
US Securities and Exchange Commission (BP, 2010).
2.6.1 Conventional Petroleum
Petroleum is a naturally occurring mixture of hydrocarbons, generally in a liquid state, which may also include compounds of sulfur
nitrogen oxygen metals and other elements (Chapter 1) (Hsu and
Robinson, 2006; Speight, 2007a, 2011).
Thus, petroleum and the equivalent term crude oil, cover a wide
assortment of materials consisting of mixtures of hydrocarbons
and other compounds containing variable amounts of sulfur, nitrogen, and oxygen, which may vary widely in specific gravity, API
gravity, and the amount of residuum (Hsu and Robinson, 2006;
Speight, 2007, 2011). Metal-containing constituents, notably those
compounds that contain vanadium and nickel, usually occur in the
alternative energies at the forefront of the political agenda worldwide. At such a time, reliable data is an invaluable tool for decision
makers and analysts both inside and outside the industry. World
economic growth has faltered as a result of fluctuation in energy
prices and the market turmoil that began in the summer of 2008 has
continued and is likely to continue for the next year or so.
The oil price has been on an upward path for more than six years
and the hiccup of the current downward price spiral highlights the
interconnected nature of the energy markets. In fact, it is only a
matter of time before energy-consuming countries decide that the
way around this is to produce energy from other sources. And, this
has already commenced. Once this happens is a substantial way,
OPEC will be at the mercy of the oil consumers.
Crude oil reserves are 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 conditions, but which also include gas condensate
and natural gas liquids (NGLs) as well as crude oil (BP, 2010).
This data may not necessarily meet the definitions, guidelines,
and practices used for determining proved reserves at company
level as published by the US Securities and Exchange Commission
(BP, 2010).
The natural gas reserves estimates have been compiled using a
combination of primary official sources and third party data from
Cedigaz and the OPEC Secretariat, and, again, the data may not
necessarily meet the definitions, guidelines, and practices used for
determining proved reserves at company level as published by the
US Securities and Exchange Commission (BP, 2010).
2.6.1 Conventional Petroleum
Petroleum is a naturally occurring mixture of hydrocarbons, generally in a liquid state, which may also include compounds of sulfur
nitrogen oxygen metals and other elements (Chapter 1) (Hsu and
Robinson, 2006; Speight, 2007a, 2011).
Thus, petroleum and the equivalent term crude oil, cover a wide
assortment of materials consisting of mixtures of hydrocarbons
and other compounds containing variable amounts of sulfur, nitrogen, and oxygen, which may vary widely in specific gravity, API
gravity, and the amount of residuum (Hsu and Robinson, 2006;
Speight, 2007, 2011). Metal-containing constituents, notably those
compounds that contain vanadium and nickel, usually occur in the