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Section VI I I - Paper 9
U.S. .
WORLD OIL RESOURCES
Paul D. Torr ey *
C.L.
Moore-
George H. Weber
Abstract, World p r imar y o i l reserves are est imated to be
297 b i l l ion barre ls and wor ld secondary reserves are
est imated to be 13 4 b i l l ion barre ls o r a to ta l o f 431 b i l l ion
barre ls of recoverable o i l . In format ion on which these
est imat ions are based has been suppl ied i n large part by
nat ional author i t ies of m ost of the o i l -produc ing nat ions.
Al l sources of in form at ion are indent i f ied.
World o i l product ion has amounted to about 131 b i l l ion
barre ls to the end of 1961. The Uni ted States of Am erica
has produced s l ight ly over hal f o f th is amount . Sl ight ly
over hal f o f the World ’s to ta l product ion has been ob-
tained since 1950.
In addi tion to a cons iderat ion of proved pr im ary reserves,
in format ion is g iven on the amount of o i l or ig ina l ly in
p lace and the amount of o i l that ca n be obta ined by f lu id
injection operations.
There are at least 100 b i l l ion barre ls of o i l in the Atha-
basca o i l sands of the Dominion of Canada which are not
inc luded in reserve est imat ions.
Growth of the o i l industry in the Western Hemisphere is
at a reduced rate. Elsewhere o i l reserves have been in-
creas ing at a phenomenal rate s ince World War II. The
Middle East is the greatest potent ia l source of o i l supply .
Discover ies in Afr ica a re so recen t tha t the re i s no t su f -f ic ient product ion h is tory to evaluate proper ly the i r
magnitude. The growth of oi l reserves in the Sov iet Union
is notable. In the Fa r East o i l development has been in-
f luenced by inaccess ib i li ty , l imi ted local markets , and un-
certa in pol i t ica l condi t ions.
Approx imate ly 1.6 t r i l l ion barre ls of o i l have been d is-
covered in the World ’s f ie lds and under present ex-
pectat ions around 35 per cent of th is amount wi l l be re-
covered.
Suf f ic ient o i l has been found to supply the World ’s ant i -
c ipated future consumpt ion for severa l decades to come.
Improvements in the ef f ic iency of o i l recovery wi l l serve
to extend the avai lab i l i ty of known reserves.
Résumé. Les réserves pétro l ières mondia les pr imai res
sont est imées à 297 mi l l iards de bar i ls et les réserves
secondaires mondiales à 138 mi l l iards de bar i ls , so i t
un tota l de 431 mi l l iards de bar i ls explo i tab les. Pour
la p lupart , ces ch i ff res sont basés sur des renseignements
fourn is par les autor i tés nat ionales des pr inc ipaux pays
producteu rs de pétro le. Toutes les sources d ’ in form at ion
sont identi f iées.
La produ ct ion pétro l ière mondia le, à l a f in de 1961, s’éle-
vai t à env i ron 131 mi l l iards de bar i ls dont un peu p lus
de la m oi t ié a été produ i te par les Etats Unis d ’Amérique.
Un peu p lus de la moi t ié de la product ion mondia le to ta le
est postér ieure à 1950.
Outre les réserves pr imai res d ont l ’ex istence est prouvée,des renseignements ont été données sur les réserves
pétro l ières qui se t rouvaient en p lace à l ’ o r ig ine e t su r
cel les qui peuvent êt re at te intes par in jec t ion de f lu ides.
II y a au moins 100 mi l l iards de bar i ls de pétro le dans
les sables pétro l iers d ’Athabasca, dans le Dominion du
Canada, qui ne sont pas compris dans l ’es t imat ion des
réserves.
Le taux d’accroissement des réserves de l ’ industrie pé-
t ro l ière dans l ’Hémisphère Occ identa l est actuel lement
rédui t . Ai lleurs , les réserves petro l ières sont e n augmen-
tat ion depuis la Deuxième Guerre Mondia le, à un taux
except ionnel . Le Moyen Or ient est la source potent ie l lela p lus r iche pour la product ion de pétro le. En Afr ique,
les découvertes sont te l lement récentes que l ’h istor ique
de leur product ion est insuf f isant pour permett re une
évaluat ion c orrecte de leur étendue. L ’augmentat ion des
réserves pétro l ières e n Union Sov iét ique est notable. En
Extrême Orient, le développement du pé tro le e st in f luencé
pa r le manque de voies d’accès, des marchés locaux
l imités et des condit ions pol i t iques incertaines.
Env i ron 1.600 mi l l iards de bar i ls de pétro le ont été
découverts dans le monde e t on prév oi t ac tuellement que
35 % de ce m ontant sera explo i té.
On a t rouvé suf f isamment de pétro le pour sat is fa i re la
consommat ion mondia le prévue pour p lus ieurs décadesà venir. Les améliorations apportées dans l ’eff icacité des
modes d ’explo i ta t ion pétro l ière serv i ro nt à étendre la d is-
ponib i l i té des réserves connues.
* Authors’ Biographies vide page 95 .
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Introduction
World primary oil reserves have been estimated
to amount to 297 billion barre ls of crude oil as a
result of the s tudy on which this paper i s based.
This figure does not differ radically from estimations
made by other people, but th e most significant resultof the present study is that th e total recoverable
reserve in the World's oil fields is almost 431 bil-
lion barre ls of crude oil by reason of the possibilities
for application of proved methods of fluid injection
into oil reservoirs. These and other findings have
been developed as a result of th e suggestion of the
late Dr. Ing. h.c. Günther Schlicht, who was familiar
with studies that had been made by th e sen ior author
on United States Oil Resources for the Interstate
Oil Compact Commission. Dr. Schlicht expressed the
opinion at the Fifth World Petroleum Congress that
an inventory of "World Oil Resources," similar to
the studies that had been made in the United
States , would supply useful information on which
the future use of hydrocarbons could be projected.
With this encouragement, government officials and
oil company executives in every oil producing nation
were solicited to furnish the following information
for their respective countries:
1 -Estimation of Original Oil Content of Reser-
2 -Total Oil Production to 1/1/62
3- 961 Oil Production
4 -Pr imary Oil Reserves as of 1/1/62
5 -Additional Recovery that May be Obtainedby Injection of Gas or Water into Reservoirs
It was emphasized that s tatistic s for the study
were to be dated as of J anu ary 1, 1962 so that in-
formation on exploration and production activities
in each oil-producing nation during 1961 could be
included. It was recognized that it would not be
possible to de lay the preparat ion of the pape r suffi-
ciently so that statist ics for 1962 could b e included.
Originally, it had been planned to include reserves
of natu ral gas and of natural gas liquids along with
reserves of cru de oil so that an estimation of the
total hydrocarbon reserve might be made. It soon
became evident that it was n ot going to b e feasible
to make such a comprehensive study, for complete
information on th e production of hydrocarbon gases
could not be obtained for many of the older oil
producing regions because of th e tremendous and
unmeasured waste of gas which accompanied the
voirs
production of oil in the earlie r fields. Thus, and w
considerable regret, the decision had to be m
to confine this s tudy to crude oil resources alone
The meticulous effort that has been devoted
the development of authentic information on the
resources of many of th e nations is ver y evid
from the detailed nature of the reports that hbeen submitted. Unfortunately, when all of the figu
from a nation are combined to form one line o
table, it does not begin to indicate the great amo
of work that has been required for the compila
of t he basic information. It is regretted that sp
limitations prevent the inclusion of a great part
the detailed information which has been supplied
the authors.
Where information on a country's oil resour
could not be obtained from national sources,
source of information avail able to the author
identified. Questions as to the accuracy of figu
from certain countries are noted in the tables
provide a criterion a s to their reliability.
Units of Measurement
One of t he problems that has confronted the
thors in the utilization of th e information supp
to them has been the different units of measure
which oil production and oil reserves have b
reported. Four different units of measure are u
commonly throughout the World to record oil pduction. These are :
Barrels of 42 U S . Gallons
Cubic Meters = 6.3 US. Barrels
Long Tons = 2,240 pounds
Metric Tons = 2,204.6 pounds
Because of th e difference in specific gravi ty
the crude oil produced from various countries th
is no constant factor that can be used to con
metric tons to barrels and vice versa. Convers
factors, developed by the United S tates Bureau
Mines, have been used in this paper and are lis
in the tables re lating to oil resources.
The use of the weight of oil produced, a s a m
uremen t of production and rese rves, is unfortun
and unrealistic because all measurements of
reservoir characteristics, b y necessity, have to
on a volumetric basis. Consequently, cubic me
as a measurement of oil reserves and oil produc
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Figure 1
is preferable to metric tons, for the factor required
to convert cubic meters to US . barrels is a constant
which does not change because of difference in the
specific gravity of the oil produced from different
fields.The World Petroleum Congress could make a most
useful contribution to industry if it would suggest
easily converted standards for the measurement of
crude oil.
World Oil Production
It is not intended that this paper should consider
details of the history of World oil production even
though past discoveries and past production of crude
oil have influenced directly the availability of World
Oil Resources. Thus, since production serves to re-duce the future availability of oil by the amount
which has been produced, the record of production
from the principal oil regions is presented in Table
No. I, at the end of the paper. This record, also, is
shown graphically in Figure No. 1.
The year 1857 has been used as the beginning of
commercial world production, for this is the year
when shallow reservoirs were first developed in
Rumania. Two years later oil was discovered in
Pennsylvania and this notable event represents thebeginning of the oil industry in the United States.
It is significant to note from Table No. I that the
cumulative oil production of the United States i s
slightly over one half of total world production,
even though the amount of oil produced in the
United States in relation to the rest of the World
has been declining in Post World War II years.
It is, likewise, most significant, as can be seen
from Table No. I, that slightly over one-half of the
World's total production has been obtained since
1950.
A comparison of the cumulative production listedin Table No.1 with composite figures in Table No.
VI1 will show that some minor discrepancies exist
which cannot be reconciled except by a great
amount of investigation which is completely beyond
the authors' ability to perform. It will be obvious
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that these differences actually are so small, when
they are compared with the magnitude of many of
the other figures which have been used, that they
cannot be detected from the drawings which ac-
company this paper. They can be attributed to va-
rious conditions which have affected the accuracy
of production and reserve reports and records such
as: the inclusion of liquified petroleum gases with
crude oil in certain countries; changes in the owner-
ship of fields brought about by adjustments in na-
tional boundaries; the use of different factors to
convert metric tons to U.S. barrels and vice versa;
and because some countries include waste oil which
has not been considered by companies operating in
them.
In practically all cases the figures which have
been submitted by national authorities have been
accepted. They usually are slightly lower than those
available from other sources. It is assumed that
they are based on the most reliable informationobtainable.
Incomplete figures indicate that the trend of an-
nual World oil production has continued to rise in
1962. It is also notable that the potential producing
capacity of the World's oil fields is considerably
greater than the production obtained from them in
recent years. The amount of excess producing ca-
pacity is not precisely determinable but it is be-
lieved to be one fifth to one quarte r of 1961 pro-
duction.
World Oil Resources
For the purpose of this paper, World Oil Resources
have been classified into five subdivisions which
are based on geography and on the importance of
oil production and oil reserves. These subdivisions
are: Western Hemisphere, Europe and the Soviet
Union, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, Australia
and Oceania. Statistics on the oil resources of these
regions are given in tables at the end of th is paper
and estimations of their oil resources are shown in
illustrations which accompany the text.
All statistics on oil resources are identified pre-
ceding Table No. II.The study on which this report is based differs
from other considerations of recoverable oil in that
it includes estimations of t he oil that exis ted origin-
ally in the reservoirs of t he World's fields. Such
estimations are believed to be important because
they enable by a simple calculation a determinat
of the average efficiency of oil recovery for e
oil producing country according to present exp
ations. Recovery efficiency, expressed as the p
cent of oil that is recoverable, is listed in Colu
10 of the respective oil resources tables.
It will be recognized tha t estimations of the
ginal content of oil reservoirs could not be m
until technological progress had advanced sufficien
to permit an evaluation of the volumetric capac
of reservoir rocks and of the fluids contained
them. Such knowledge did not become availa
generally until after World War II.
Figures on cumulative production, 1961 producti
and primary reserves, given in Columns 2, 3 an
of the respective oil resources tables, will be und
stood and require no special explanation.
A significant innovation to information on oil
sources will be found in Column 5 of the respect
oil resources tables. This column shows the additial oil that may be recovered by the injection of
and water into oil reservoirs. It is patterned a
similar studies that have been made on Un
States Oil Resources for the Interstate Oil Comp
Commission.1
If the primary reserves are added to the reser
that may be recovered from fluid injection op
ations, as has been done in Column No. 6 of the
spective oil resources tables, it will be seen that
recoverable reserves of quite a few countries
increased substantially.
The authors believe that estimations of oil
covery from fluid injection operations are justif
by the record of continuous secondary and press
maintenance operations in the United States, so
of which have been active for a period of 35 ye
It is believed that the record of the results obtai
from these projects along with the records of s
ilar but generally more recent operations in ot
countries are sufficiently dependable to bë used
a criterion for the estimation of the possible addit
al recovery that can be obtained from many of
world's oil fields.
Columns 7 and 8 show the regional rank of e
oil producing country.Column 9 shows how rapidly each oil produc
country is producing its known reserves.
Column 10 indicates how efficient the recov
of oil will be in each producing country accord
to present recovery expectations.
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The authors are aware that there are other oil
recovery methods in process of development which
may find wide application and which may serve to
increase greatly the amount of oil listed in Column
5. These methods include the use of solvents such
as alcohols and liquified petroleum gases in the
miscible phase displacement process; various formsof high pressure gas injection including vertical gas
drive; the use of carbonated water in what is known
as the Orco Process; and the application of heat to
oil reservoirs. In the latest report on United States
Oil Resources', an attempt has been made to eva-
luate the possibilities of these methods in the oil
fields of that country. It is known that some of
them are being applied on an experimental basis in
other countries but sufficient information is not
available to determine how successful they are
going to be outside of the United States. The best
conclusion that can be made at this time is that
they have promising possibilities under certain spe-
cific reservoir conditions. No method is known that
can be applied with an equal measure of success in
all reservoirs.
The oil resources of each of the five regional
subdivisions are considered in the same sequence
as their resources are listed in the tables at the
end of this report.
Western Hemisphere
Notwithstanding recent discoveries of enormousoil fields in other regions, the production of oil and
the proven reserves of the Western Hemisphere, as
shown in Table No. II and in Figure No. 2, continue
to be of major importance.
During 1961 the fields of the Western Hemisphere
produced slightly over one-half of the total world
production and at the end of 1961 they had produced
69.5 per cent of cumulative world production. This
impressive record is due to the fact that many of
the fields of the Western Hemisphere were dis-
covered at an early date and are more nearly de-
pleted than is the case in other regions. The Western
Hemisphere is the only world region which has
produced more oil through 1961 than its remaining
primary reserves in that year.
From Figure No.2 it will be seen that in the
Western Hemisphere, the United States and Vene-
zuela are the most important oil countries. The
Venezuela
Canada
Argentina
Mexico
Colombia
Tr inidad
Peru
Braz i l
Chi le
Others
, YIL RESOURCES OF THE
WESTERN HEMISPHEREas o f January 1,1962
(Estimated original o11 n place)
I I I I I IO 50 1 0 150 200 250 300 350
109 ( 42 -ga l lon barrels) -ola u w
JOUBNALI
Figure 2
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Dominion of Canada, Argentina and Mexico have
significant reserves, much of which has been found
in post World War II years. The Republic of CO-
lombia, also, has important reserves of recent dis-
covery.
It will be noted that fluid injection operations in
Western Hemisphere countries are of notable im-
portance, this being due to the fact that, generally
speaking, Western Hemisphere countries are pro-
ducing their known reserves at a faster rate than
any of the other World regions. Notwithstanding the
widespread utilization of methods to improve oil
recovery in Western Hemisphere countries, the
average recovery efficiency from its oil fields is
poorer than in any other World region. This is due
to the fact that a great deal of oil from Western
Hemisphere countries was produced without any
restrictions and with poor utilization of the natu ral
energy existing originally in their reservoirs.
to be commercially recoverable by mining metho
providing the sands have a reasonable thickn
and the overburden is not excessive.
The oil sands have been studied by many geo
gists and petroleum engineers and reserves ha
been estimated in the range of from 100 to
billion barrels. It is believed that 100 billion barris a fairly realistic figure for provable reserves.
The reserves in the Athabasca oil sands ha
not been included in the reserves assigned to
Dominion of Canada but it is believed that th
will have significant importance in the future. T
recovery of sulphur from the oil might serve as
incentive for chemical companies, which requ
sulphur as a basic material for many processes
establish their operations in Canada. The heavy
sands, in addition to being a tremendous poten
source of hydrocarbon fuels might, also, serve
promote other large industrial expansion in nada.
The Dominion of Canada
The United States of America
Details about the oil resources of the Dominion
of Canada ar e given in Appendix One to Table
No. II to show what can be done and is being done
in a country where much new oil has been found
and continues to be found in recent years as a re-
sult of the favorable att itude of the government to
the oil industry. It is notable that about one quarter
of Canada's present ieserves will be produced a$ a
Mention has already been made of studies
United States Oil Resources for the Interstate
Compact Commission.' Since these studies h
revealed the great importance of fluid inject
operations t o the production of oil and to oil
serves in the United States a part of the informat
incluäëd' in %e Piffi Biennial Report to the Co
result of fluid injection operations, and it may be . pact1k eprodwed in Appendix Two of Table No
expected that this percentage will increase in the
future when Canada may not have a large excess
of primary producing capacity as it does at the pre-
sent time. It should also be noted that the largest
single oil reserve known in the world exists in Ca-
nada. This is the Athabasca oil sands for which some
commercial development is expected in the near
future.
The Athabasca oil sands are kn'own to have a
variable degree of "oil" impregriatiboii ver an area
of some 20,000 square miles and with an average
thickness of 100 feet. They outcrop along the Atha-basca River in the northern part of the Province of
Alberta. To the south and west they are buried to
depths exceeding 1,000 feet.
The bitumen in its natural state has a gravity
of 7.0' API and a sulphur content of 4.5 per cent.
Bitumen contents of over 10 per cent a re considered
The table in Appendix-Two shows that the recov
able oil reserves of the United States as a result
the development and+ operation of conventio
gas and water injec tion, methods a re 47.7 bill
barrels rather than the proved primary reser
of some 31.4 billion ba rrds . This represents an
crease in the recoverable reserves of around 50
cent.
This same Fifth BienniaI Report shows that th
aie some 40.2 billion barrels of oil in the Un
States that might be recovered by some of the ot
recovery methods, which have been referredpreviously. It is recognized that much remains
be learned about these newer recovery metho
but it is believed that under favorable reserv
conditions their application may result in the p
duction of a substantial part of the total conten
oil reservoirs.
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F ed . R ep . o f
Germany
Y u g o s l a v i a
Met ropo l i t an
F r a n c e
Others
III
kN I O N O F S O V I E T S O C I A L I S T R EP UB LI CS
0
RESOURCES OF EUROPE
AND THE SOVIET UNIONAs of Janua ry 1, 1962
(Est imated original oi l in place)I I I I I I I I I
1 0 2 0 30 40 5 0 6 0 70 8 0 90
lo9 (42 -ga l l on ba r re l s ) *OIL AND 6
JOURNAL
Figure 3
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Europe and the Soviet Union The Sahara
Africa
Because of the recent discovery of most of Afri-
ca's important oil fields, except for the fields of theUnited Arab Republic, there is not sufficient pro-
duction experience to evaluate properly this con-
tinent's oil resources. All information that could be
developed, however, is given in Table No.IV and
is shown in Figure No. 4.
Just not enough information is yet available about
most of the oil fields of Africa to enable much
more than a preliminary prediction about the effi-
ciency of the recovery that will be obtained from
them. For instance, the first commercial oil produc-
tion was found in the Sahara in 1956, with substan-
tial production commencing n 1960; n Libya oil fields
that were found in 1959 first came in to production
in 1961.
Similar to the experience in other regions, it may
be expected that the recoverable reserves from the
oil fields of Africa will be increased substantially
in future years.
Information about the oil resources of Europe and
the Soviet Union is presented in Table No. 111 and
is shown in Figure No.3. It is regretted that it is
not possible to separate production and reserve
statistics for the Soviet Union for European Russiaand for Asiatic Russia, including the island of Sakha-
lin.
As can be seen in Figure No. 3, the Soviet Union
is by far the most important oil country in this
region followed by Rumania. In both of these coun-
tries oil has been produced in commercial quantities
for many years. Much new oil has been found in
the Soviet Union in Post World War II years where-
as, during the same period, little new oil has been
discovered in Rumania. Much of the remainder of
Europe's production and reserves a re of fairly recent
discovery such as in Metropolitan France, the Fed-eral Republic of Germany, and Sicily. As shown
in Column 10 of Table No. III, oil recovery in these
nations is going to be quite efficient from their re-
cently discovered fields for they are being developed
and operated with the benefit of the best modern
technological knowledge.
Appendix Three of Table No. IV is given to ~
how rapidly oil production has increased in the S
hara from a negligible amount in 1959 to 121 m
lion barrels in 1961. The development of large
Production in the Sahara has been with amazirapidity.
Middle East
The Middle East, with almost two-thirds of t
world's recoverable oil reserves, is the most i
portant oil region. The figures in Table No. V, whi
are illustrated in Figure No. 5 demonstrate this fa
most impressively.
Not only is the Middle East the most importa
oil region at the present time, but, also, it is like
to continue to maintain this position in the foreseable future. Tremendous new reserves continue
be found particularly in offshore areas and t
potential producing capaci ty of many of the fie
is high. Almost 800 billion of barrels of oil have be
found in Middle Eastern countries and it would n
be unreasonable to predict that at least 1 trilli
barrels have been discovered and will be discover
in the future in this region.
Much of the development in the fields of t
Middle East has been on a wide well spacing pa
tern, and they are being operated in an efficie
manner which will insure the maximum economrecovery. Because of present sparse well densi
many of the estimations of reserves are believ
to be conservative. For instance, officials of t
government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia esti
ate that the recoverable oil from its fields w
amount to about 86.5 billion barrels, whereas prov
developed reserves as of Janua ry 1, 1962 are co
sidered to be only a l ittle over half this figure.
Scientific development along with favorable
servoir conditions are responsible for the high d
gree of recovery efficiency which will be attain
from many Middle Eastern oil fields.
Asia, Australia and Oceania
The development and operation of oil fields
parts of Asia, and parts of Oceania have be
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L i b y a
U n i t e d A r a b
R e p u b l i c
I2
N i g e r i a
Gabon
O th e r s
O
Sahara
Oll RESOURCES OF AFRICAA s o f Ja n u a r y 1 , 1962
(Estimated or iginal o i l in place)
4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30
*L A I D
l o 9 (42- a l l o n b a r r e ls ) JOURNA
Figure 4
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Saud i Ar ab ia
I ran
K u w a i t
I r aq
N e u t r a l Z o n e
T r u c i a l C o a s t
O11 RESOURCES OF THEMIDDLE EAST *- -
Qat ar
Syr ia
Bahr a in
I
I R A N
-=A s o f Januar y 1 , 19E2
(Est imated or ig inai o i l i n piace)
I I I I I I I I I I I I IOt her s
O 2 0 40 60 8 0 100 1 2 0 14 0 160 180 200 22 0 240 260 280 300
*L .m SAS
JOURNAL09 ( 42- ga i ion bar r e is )
1
Figure 5
B r i t i s h B o r n e o
C h ina andMongo l ia
AUSTRALIA AND OCEANIAurma
S a k h l i n
O t her s
I I I I l I Q 12 2
I l I I
A s o f Januar y 1, 1962
(Est imated or ig inai o i l in piace)
O 2 4 6 8 10 1 2 14 16 18 20
**IL a .AS
JOURNAIo 9 ( 42 - ga l lon bar r e ls )IFigure 6
92
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adversely affected by war and in some countries
by unstable political conditions. Australia only has
one field of unknown size which was discovered in
1961. Thus, the oil resources of the Far East, as this
region is frequently referred to, as listed in Table
No.VI and as shown in Figure No.6, in all pro-
bability do not reflect the true producing possibilitiesof this region. Many of the fields have produced
over a long period of t ime; others, such as in Aus-
tralia and in the Philippines, are of v ery recent
discovery.
Oil recovery efficiency, particularly in British
Borneo and Indonesia is high, because of favorable
reservoir conditions. Indonesia is, by far, the most
important oil country.
Large parts of the region have been explored to
only a limited extent and it is believed that un-
discovered reserves of substantial magnitude remain
to be found. Inaccessibility, limited local markets,
and uncertain political conditions have been a de-
terring factor for oil field development in much of
Asia and Oceania in Post World War II years.
Wor ld
M i d d l e E a s t
Review of World Oil Resources
I
Table No. VI1 and Figure No. 7 are consolidations
of the information presented in the five preceding
tables and the five preceding figures. The enormous
oil resources of the Middle East in comparison
with the rest of the World are impressively evident
from this table and this figure.
Growth of World Oil Resources
Since World War II, as shown in Table No.VIII
and Figure No.8, World primary oil reserves have
increased in phenomenal manner from 50,684 million
barrels to 297,050 million barrels in 1961.This growth
has been a t an average annual rate of slightly over
13.5 billion barrels per year. This great increase
in reserves was accomplished notwithstanding the
fact tha t some 87.5 billion barrels were produced
from 1944 through 1961, a period of eighteen years.
The average annual increase in primary reserves
was, during this period, some 5.5 billion barrels
greater than the 1961 production of a lit tle over
8 billion barrels.
How much longer oil discovery rates will keep
ahead of production and consumption seems to be
more nearly an economic problem than one of oil
finding ability. Predictions have been made that by
1970 World consumption will amount to around 11.7
billion barrels. If this should be the case, the aver-
age annual increase in primary reserves in Post
World War II years is completely adequate to take
care of t he World's need for liquid hydrocarbons in
the immediate future.
-4----. .
A- ?il?ii, ?i\
-f!!\m!W4i!lrnL 'F
WORLD OIL RESOURCESWWAl!!l!!mr--Laii.imwwA s o f J a n u a ry 1, 1962
(Est imated or ig ina l o i l i n p lace) - - -w- -I t I I I I I I I I 1 I I I
200 4 0 0 60 0 8 O0 1,000 1, 200 1,400 1,600
Europe andS o v i e t U n i o n
A f r i c a
A s i a , A u s t r a l i a ,and Oc ean ia
O
. ."UJOURNAL
O9 (42 -ga l lon ba r re ls )
Figure 7
VI1119 93
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GROWTH OF WORLDCRUDE-011RESERVES
300 -I O 9 ( 42-ga l lon bar re ls )
2 6 0 -
24 0 -
2 2 0 -
20 0 -
1 8 0-
1 6 0 -
1 4 0 -
1 2 0 -
1 0 0 -
8 0 -
6 0 -
40-20 -
2 8 0 -
A f r ica
A s i a , A u s t r a l i a ,and Ocean ia
Europe an dS o v i e t U n i o n
0 est Hem-.... ..\... ... ............. ¡sphere
M i d d l e E a 5 t
1959 1961.,,.... 1944 1949 1954IOURNAL
Figure 8
In addition to the primary reserves, this study
has shown that the World has secondary reserves
in amount of almost 134 billion barrels of crude oil
so that total recoverable reserves by known and
proved methods are around 431 billion barrels. This
is over three times all of the oil produced since the
beginning of commercial production. In fact, the
secondary reserves, that is the additional oil whi
can be obtained by the application of convention
gas andfor water injection into oil reservoirs,
slightly greater than the total past production.
These imposing figures give no consideration
possible additional oil that may be obtained by th
application of some of the more recent recoveprocesses. If, for instance, the additional recove
factor that has been suggested for United Stat
fields1 is applied, the recoverable oil reserves
the World could be something like 861 billion ba
rels. Large as this figure is, it is only about one-ha
of t he oil known to have existed originally in d
covered reservoirs.
Although the ability of the oil industry to fi
new reserves is demonstrated by past explorati
experience, it will be obvious that the time will
reached eventually when the consumption rate w
equal the discovery rate. When this time arrives,
is encouraging to recognize that improvements
oil recovery technology are capable of supplyi
the world's need for crude oil for many years
come.
It is almost futile to speculate as to the amou
of oil that will be needed decades in the futu
That is a problem for economists rather than en
neers. The facts are, however, that at the 1970 pr
jected consumption rate the known recoverable r
serves represent approximately a 36 year supply.
Those who have had an opportunity to follow t
operations of the oil industry know how grossly
oil-finding and oil-producing abilities have beunderestimated in preceding years. Thus, it is w
considerable hesitancy that the availability of
fixed number of years of crude oil supply has be
mentioned. The purpose for citing such figures h
been to provide assurance of an adequacy of supp
for several decades to come. Beyond this point
is believed tha t reliance can be placed on the abil
and ingenuity of scientists and engineers to produ
more of tha t which has already been found.
Acknowledgement
Recognition has been given in each of the oil resour
tables to the source of the information th at has been u
in its preparation. The assistance rendered by the resp
tive national authorities and the interest which they ha
manifested in this study is recognized with much app
94 V
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ciation. Individual acknowledgement is not possible other
than the recognition given in the respective tables, but it
will be evident that this study of World Oil Resources
would not have been possible without the active coopera-
tion which has been received.
Officials of two international oil companies have review-
ed and commented on various parts of this paper. Theyhave requested that their assistance should not be identi-
field. As these persons may read this report, they will
understand that their desire for anonymity has been re-
spected. They, alone, will know how constructive and
helpful their comments have been.
Mr. Paul Swain, International Editor of the Oil and Gas
Journal, has been most helpful in advising about sources
of information on foreign oil fields, and he has helped
generously in supplying information from his personal
knowledge and from his extensive files.
The drawings were prepared by staff artists of the Oil and
Gas Journal.
References
(1) Paul D. orrey, Evaluation of United States Oil Re-
sources as of January 1, 1962, The Interstate Oil
Compact Committee Bulletin, Volume IV, No. 1,June 1,
1962, Pages 12-25.
Authors’ Biographies
Torrey, Paul O. I U.S.A. I etroleum Engineer, Petroleum Geologist IBS (Petroleum Geology), Petroleu m Engineer, Univer sity of Pittsburgh:
ScD (Petroleum Engineering), Marietta C ollege / Independent Oil Pro-ducer; formerly Distinguished Lecturer in petroleum engineering, Uni-
versity of Texas.
Weber, George H. / U.S.A. / Petroleum Engineer, Editor / BS, University
of Oklahoma / Editor, Oil and Gas Journal.
Moore, C. L. / U.S.A. / Foreign Production Spe cialist / Office of Oil andGas, Un ited States Departmen t of the Inte rior, Washington, D.C.
v11119 95
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TABLE No. 1World Oil Production from Principal Producing Regions from 1857 to 1961 Inclusive
All figures in thousands of barrels of 42 U. S . Gallons
~
010
Western Middle Asia and Total Produced b
Year Hemisphere Africa Europe( l ) East (z) Oceania World United Sta
1857
1858
1859
1860
1861
1862
1863
1864
1865
18661867
1868
1869
1870
1871
1872
1873
1874
1875
1876
1877
18781879
1880
1881
1882
1883
1884
1885
1886
1887
1888
1889
1890
1891
1892
1893
1894
1895
96
2
500
2,114
3,069
2,694
2,206
2,608
3,773
3.537
3,846
4,435
5,511
5,475
6,601
10,259
11,096
12,183
9,445
13,662
15,70920,489
26,636
27,936
30,786
23,700
24,648
22,109
28,649
28,809
28,307
35,869
46,619
55,048
51,295
49,229
50,173
53,618
2
4
5
8
17
23
69
98
10 8
126
172
144
261
288
255
276
57 9
837
96 4
1,599
2,082
2,6903,089
3,356
4,040
5,064
6,535
11,473
14,626
18,566
18,969
23,821
25,491
29,844
35,809
37,133
41,804
37,976
48,316
5
7
10
1823
26
17
15
20
28
3 0
38
29
37
147
17 0
243
311
1,005
1,188
1,758
2
4
7
50 8
2,131
3,092
2,763
2,304
2,716
3,899
3,709
3,990
4,696
5,799
5,730
6,877
10,838
11,933
13,152
11,051
15,754
18,41723,601
30,018
31,993
35,865
30,255
35,969
36,765
47,243
47,807
52,165
61,507
76,633
91,100
88,739
92,038
89,337
103,692
28.6
98.4
99.2
98.9
94.5
91 a
92.0
92.3
90.2
9,1,4
89.8
90.7
90.8
91.5
91.3
91.6
91 o
82.6
84.7
83.684.4
87.6
86.5
85.1
77.5
67.3
59.5
59.4
59.2
52.9
57.2
59.8
59.6
56.9
52.6
55.2
51.O
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TABLE No. II
Oil Resources of the Western Hemisphere as of January 1, 1962
(All Production and Reserve Figures in Millions of Barrels of 42 U. S. Gallons)
Continent
or RegionCountry
North America Dominion of Canada 25.466 1,703 221 4,358 1,421 5,779 5.3 1.9 3.8 29.4 7.428
United States of America 346,195 67,657 2,511 31,399 16,332 47,731 60.4 74.1 5.3 33.3 7.418
Mexico 18,945 3,481 107 2,455 660 3,115 2.6 3.8 3.4 34.8 7.104
Total fo r North America 390,606 72,841 2,839 38,212 18,413 56,625 68.3 79.8 5.0 33.1
West Indies Cuba 39 5 (1 2 2 ('1 6.632
Trinidad 6,000 756 46 402 10 412 1.1 0.8 11.2 19.3 6.900
Total for West Indies 6,039 761 46 404 10 414 1.1 0.8 11,2 19.4
South America Argentina
Bolivia (z)
Brazil
Chile
Colombia
EcuadorPeru
Venezuela
Tota l for South America
25,240
126
2.345
1,000
8,272
6345,365
170.965
213,947
885
32
128
44
1,002
83598
14,931
17,703
84
3
35
9
54
319
1,066
1,273
4,163
50
27 8
15 0
80 0
30360
15,096
20,927
833 4,996
12 62
43 2 710
75 225
225 1,025
12 4244 404
5,600 20,696
7,233 28,160
2.0 1.0 1.7 23.3
0.1 (3) 4.8 (z)
0.8 0.1 4.9 35.7
0.2 (s) 4.0 26.9
1.3 1.1 5.3 24.5
0.1 0.1 7.1 19.70.5 O.? 4.7 18.7
25.6 16.4 5.1 20.8
30.6 19.4 4.5 21.4
7.021
7.205
7.315
7.735
7.023
7.6517.512
6.974
Total for Western
Hemisphere 610,592 91,305 4,158 59,543 25,656 85,199 4.9 28.9
(') Information on the de teriorat ing oil industry of Cuba
is difficult to obtain and is uncertain. 1961 oil produc-
tion is estimated to have been only 73,000 barrels.
Secondary reserves are probably insignificant.
(?) Figures on Bolivia are incomplete because reserves
have not been established for the recently discovered
Caranda , Collpa, and Rio Grande fields. The estimation
of the original oil content of Bolivian reservoir s (Co-
lumn l),obviously, is too low.
(3) Less than one per cent.
VI IV 9 99
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TABLE No. II Continued
Oil Resources of th e Western Hemisphere
Count ry Source of Information
Mexico
Cuba
Trinidad
Dominion of
Canada
Provincial Officials as Listed in A ppendix
One, with Statistics Compiled by the
Author from these Sources.United States of Paul D. Tor rey , “Evalua tion of United
States Oil Resources as of J an ua ry 1,
1962.” The Intersta te Oil Compact
Committee Bulletin, Volume IV, No. 1,
June , 1962, Pages 12-25. See Append ix
Two for Information on Individual States.
Antonio Vargas Macdonald,
Coordinador, Relaciones Publicas,
Petróleos Mexicanos.
Compiled by the Author from
Available Information
O. O. Fernandes, Resident Engineer,
Petroleum Department, Government
of Trinidad
available from a confidential source
and believed t o be reliable.
Manager- Yacimientos Petroliferos.
Fiscales Bolivianos.
America
Argentina Compiled from information made
Bolivia Enrique Mariaca Bilbao, Gen eral
Country Source of Information
Brazil
Chile
Colombia
Ecuador
Peru
Venezuela
Affonso Cesario de Fario Alvim,
Superintendente Geral, Depto. de
Produção, Petr óleo Brasileiro, S. A.John L. Porter, Technical Advisor an
Fernando Salas Valdes, General
Manager, Empresa Nacional del
Petróleos.
Augustó Barrientos, Ingeniero Jefe,
División de Petróleos, Ministerio de
Minas y Petróleos, Republica de
Colombia.
Ing. Enrique Zevall os Salam e, Direct
General de Minas e Hidrocarburos,
Ministerio de Femento, Republica de
Ecuador.
Compiled from information made
available from a confidential source
and believed to be reliable.
Arturo Hernandes Grisanti, Director
General, Ministerio d e Minas e
Hidrocarburos, Republica de V enezu
1O0
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Appendix No. One to Table No. II
Oil Resources of the Dominion of Canada as of January 1, 1962
(All figures in million of barre ls of 42 U. S. Gallons)
Province (1) (2) (3) (4 ) (5) Source of Information
New Brunswick
Ontario
Manitoba
Saskatchewan
Alberta
British Columbia
Northwest
Territories
Yukon Territory
Total
3.9 0.6 (l) 0.1 0.2
185.0 38.6 1.1 9.8 9.7
650.0 39.1 4.5 36.0 31.0
6,379.7 283.6 55.9 818.4 257 .2
17,000.0 1,330.0 157.8 3,193.0 1,019.0(*)
847.6 3.8 1.0 200.7 104.2
400 .0 7.7 O.? 100 .0 0
25,466.2 1,703.4 221.0 4,358.0 1,421.3
J. B. Hamilton, Geologist, Mines Branch, Depart-
ment of Lands and Mines and R. J. Kirker, Chief
Geologist, Western Decalta Petroleum Limited.
W. D. Brittain, Director, Drilling and Production
Branch, Department of Energy Resources.
M. J. Gobert, Senior Petroleum Engineer, Petro-
leum Engineering Division, Mines Branch, Depart-
ment of Mines and Natural Resources.
A. J. Williams, Acting Deputy Minister of Mineral
Resources.
N. A. Strom, Chief Oil Engineer, Oil and Gas Con-
servation Board.
W. E. Kiernan, Minister, Ministry of Mines and
Petroleum Resources.
B. H. J. Thoms, Oil Conservat ion Engineer, Depart-
ment of Northern Affairs and National Resources.
F o o t n o t e s :
( l ) Only 12,024 barrels.
(2) The Oil and Gas Conservation Board of Alberta es ti-
mates recoverable crude oil reserves of 3,510 millionbarrels of which 317 million barrels are specifically
designated as attributed to pressure maintenance inthe Joffre and Pembina fields. Primary oil reserves are
therefore: 3,510-317 = 3,193 million barrels. It is ecti-
mated that oil recovery can be increased at least
20 per cent by application 01 fluid injection methods,
so Column (5) has been estimated as: 3,510 X .2=702 + 31 7 = 1,019 million barrels.
(1 o i l recovery in the one field is reported to be con-trolled by strong water drive which may make the
application of fluid injection methods unnecessary.
(4) No significant reserves can be attributed at the pre-
sent time to the single oil discovery in the Yukon.
Vl l l . 9 101
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Appendix Two of Table No. II
Evaluation of United States Oil Resources as of January 1, 1962
(All figures in millions of barrels of 42 U.S. Gallons)
New York
Pennsylvania
West Virginia
Kentucky
Ohio
Indiana
Illinois
Midigan
North Dakota
South Dakota
Nebraska
Kansas
Oklahoma
Arkansas
Alabama
Mississippi
Louisiana (*)
Texas (*)
New Mexico
Colorado
Wyoming
Montana
Utah
California (*)
Alaska
Other States (s)
Total
855
3,831
2,610
1,473
4,692
3,080
7,471
1,822
3,000
2
1,603
16,150
49,715
5,666
358
3,425
27,346
117,700
11,048
3,266
11,482
2,853
1,797
64,012
776
162
208
1,236
467
437
672
328
2,307
461
126
1
166
3,421
8,396
1,135
45
74
5,571
24,701
1,614
645
2,063
394
152
12,353
7
10
2 O
6 7
3 38
18 138
6 75
1 1 45
77 302
19 97
24 448
24 59
112 820
188 1,420
28 235
7 106
53 450
365 5,187
898 15,518
110 990
47 164
143 969
31 216
33 170
299 3,650
6 250
1 44
(1 1
20
77
13
55
5
50
765
129
147
O
119
110
1,331
158
1O0
190
4,416
4,954
936
613
626
118
276
1,010
1O0
14
346,195 67,657 2,511 31,399 16,332
F o o t n o t e s :
(I ) 0.2 Million Barrels.
(*) Includes Offshore Reserves.
(3) Includes Arizona, Florida, Missouri, Nevada, Tennes-
see, Virginia, and Washington.
Cou ntry Source of Information
New York
Pennsylvania
West Virginia
Kentucky
Ohio
Indiana
Illinois
Michigan
North Dakota
South Dakota
Nebraska
Kansas
Oklahoma
Arthur M. Van Tyne, Geologist,New York State Geological Survey.
William S. Lytle, Assistant State
Geologist, Pennsylvania Geological
Survey.
A. J. W. Headlee, Geochemist and
Chairman, West Virginia Secondary
Committee.
Edmund Nosow, Geologist, Kentudcy
Geological Survey.
Jack Cashell, Presid ent, The Preston
Oil Company.
H. R. Brown, Director, Division of Oi
and Gas, Indiana Department of
Conservation.
Car1 W. Sherman, Head, Petroleum
Engineering Section, Illinois Geologi
Survey Div.
Gordan H. Hautau, Petroleum
Geologist-Engineer, Geological Surve
Division, Michigan Department of
Conservation.
Daniel S. Boone, Petroleum Engineer
Amerada Petroleum Corporation with
the cooperation of Clarence B. Folso
Jr., North Dakota Geological Survey
Allen F.Agnew ,State Geologist,
South Dakota Geological Survey.
H.N. Rhodes, Director, Nebraska Oil
and Gas Conservation Commission.
Albert E. Sweeney, Jr., Office of Oiland Gas, United States Department
of the Interior.
F.H.Rhees, Vice President and
W. J. Rogers, Sinclair Oil and Gas
Company.
102 VI1
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Coun try Source of Information
Arkansas
Alabama
Mississippi
Louisiana
Texas
New Mexico
Colorado
Wyoming
Montana
Utah
California
Alaska
Other States
Paul D. Torrey, Petroleum Engineer
H. Gene White, Petroleum Engineer,
State Oil and Gas Board of Alabama.
James F.Borthwidc, Jr., Chief Engineer,
Mississippi S tate Oil and Gas Board.
A. Fred Peterson, Jr., Petroleum
Engineer, Louisiana Department of
Conservation.
Paul D. Torrey, Petroleum Engineer.
Daniel S . Nutter, Chief Engineer,New Mexico Oil Conservation
Commission.
A. J. Jersin, Director, Colorado Oil
and Gas Conservation Commission.
J. Howard Barnett, Petroleum
Consultant and Chairman, Wyoming
Secondary Recovery Committee.
James F. Neely, Executive Secretary,
Oil and Gas Conservation Commission
of Montana.
Robert L. Schmidt, Chief Petroleum
Engineer, Utah Oil and Gas Conservation
Commission.
G. B. Shea, Chief, San Francisco
Petroleum Research Laboratory,
U. S. Bureau of Mines.
Donald D.Bruce, Chief, Petroleum
Branch, Division of Mines and Minerals
of Alaska.
Paul D. Torrey, Petroleum Engineer.
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TABLE No. III
Oil Resources of Europe and the Soviet Union as of January 1, 1962
(All Production and Reserv e Figures in Millions of Barrels of 42 U. S. Gallons)
Country
Albania
Austria
Bulgaria
Czechoslovakia
Metropolitan France
Federal Republic of Germany
(West Germany)
German Democratic Republic
(East Germany) (*)
Hungary
Italy
Netherlands
Poland
Rumania
Sicily
United Kingdom
Yugoslavia
Total Europe
Europe and Asia
USSR (4)
Total Europe an d Soviet Union
F o o t n o t e s :
1,000 (1 40 6
1,340 298 16
10 4 11 1
10 4 15 1
690 109 16
2,595 386 44
3 2
999
102
944
995
9,900
932
73
92 2
2 1
130 10
9 2
133 14
175 (3) 2
2,070 87
58 13
11 1
40 10
80
213
16
10
200
486
6
140
20
25 0
24
900
416
8
19 1
(l) The large figure for original oil in place includes
shallow, heavy black oil in the old Drasciovitza- Germany is uncer tain and unreliable.
Penkova, Selenitza, and Greshitza fields. The wells in
these fields are repo rted to be aban,doned, but asphalt
is being mined from the of the producing for-
mations.
(2) Information on the insignificant oil industry of
(3 1 The Pre-World War II cumulative production of
tain Polish fields, that were lost to Russia, of s
12 0 million barrels is now included in the cumulaproduction of the Soviet Union.
(4) Includes Sakhalin and all other USSR regions in A
20.732 3,487 224 2,960
88,036 14,006 1,227 24,525
8
15
3
2
75
271
35
2
25
4
45
O
1
47
533
8,112
88 0.41 0.23 6.8 12.8 6.
228 1.10 1.71 7.0' 39.2 6.
19 0.07 0.06 5.3 28.8 7.
12 0.07 0.09 8.3 25.9 6.
275 1.10 0.62 5.8 55.6 6.
757 3.03 2.21 5.8 44.0 7.
6
17 5
22
275
28
94 5
416
9
23 8
3.493
0.07
0.69
0.14
0.96
0.141
6.00
0.90
0.07
0.69
15.44
0.01
0.74
0.05
0.76
1 o0
11.83
0.33
0.06
0.23
19.92-16.6 25.0
5.7 30.5
9.1 30.4
5.1 43.2
7.1 20.4
9.2 30.4
3.1 50.8
11.1 27.4
4.2 30.1
6.4 33.7
7.
7.
6.
6.
7.
7.
6.
7.
7.
32,63 7 84.56 80.07 3.7 53.0 7.
108,768 17,493 1,451 27,485 8,645 36,13 0 4.0 49.3
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TABLE No. III (Continued)
Oil Resources of Europe and the Soviet Union as of January 1, 1962
(All Produc tion and Reserve Figures in Mill ions of Barrels of 42 U.S. Gallons)
Coun try Source of Inform ation
Albania
Austria
Bulgaria
Czechoslovakia
Metropolitan
France
Federa l Republic
of Germany
(West Germany)
C. L. Moore, Foreign ProductionSpecialist, Office of Oil and G as,
United State s Depar tment of the
Interior.
R. Grill, Chief Geologist,
Geologische Bundesanstalt.
C. L. Moore, Foreign Production
Specialist, Office of Oil and Gas,
United States Depar tment of the
Interior.
C. L. Moore, Foreign Production
Specialist, Office of Oil and Gas,
United State s Depar tment of the
Interior.Maurice Allegre, Ingenieur des
Mines, Service Recherche et
Production, Direction des Carburant;,
Ministère de L'Industrie, République
Française and "Activities of th e
French Oil Industry", 1961 Bulletin
Annuel No. 2, Direction des
Carburants.
W. Sdiott, Bundesanstalt für
Bodenforschung and W. Riihl,
Deutsche Erdöl-Aktiengesellschaft
German Democratic C. L. Moore, Foreign Production
Republic Specialist, Office of Oil and Gas,(East Germany) United Stat es Depar tment of the
Interior.
Cou ntry Source of Information
Hungary
Italy
Netherlands
Poland
Rumania
Sicily
United Kingdom
Yugoslavia
USSR
C. L. Moore, Foreign ProductionSpecialist, Office of Oil and Gas,
United States Department of t he
Interior.
Compiled by the author from
available United States publications.
Compiled by the author from
available United States publications.
C. L. Moore, Foreign Production
Specialist, Office of O il and Ga s,
United States Departme nt of t he
Interior.
C. L. Moore, Foreign Production
Specialist, Office of O il and Gas,
United States Depar tmen t of the
Interior.
Felice Scelsi, Corpo Delle Miniere,
Servizio Idrocarburi.
Charles B. Towill, BP (North
America) Ltd.
Compiled by the author from
available United States publications.
C. L. Moore, Foreign Production
Specialist, Office of O il and Gas,
United States Department of t he
Interior.
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TABLE No. IV
Oil Resources of Africa a s of January 1, 1962
(All Production and Reserve Figures in Millions of Barrels of 42 U.S . Gallons)
Country
AlgeriaAngola
Congo Republic
Gabon
Libya
Morocco
Nigeria
Sahara
Senegal
United Arab Republic (Egypt)
(Includes Offshore)
Total for Africa
17164
60
510
19,831
84
1,676
29,400
4,162
55,904
(I )
39
9
63
4,500
13
390
4,200
59?
(910
2
15
1,000
(797
1,450 (E)
60(7
$3249 .32
11 .16
78 3.3 3.56
5,500 (s) 3.9 1.13
13 1.29
487 9.4 4.60
5,650 67.7 32.04
657 14.4 56.47
1.3(s) .ll618 180(8)
F o o t n o t e s :
(I ) Only 60,100 barrels in 1961; cumulative production
2.3 million barrels; primary reserves not more than
0.5 million barrels; secondary reserves are negligible.
(*) 0.8 million barrels in 1961.
(7 This is a minimum figure based on limited information.
(4) 0.6 million barrels in 1961.
(5 ) Unknown, but probably of small size.
(E) This figure is considered to be optimistic by French
authorities. However, considering the results obtained
in the Western Hemisphere it is not considered to be
unrealistic assuming continued application of effec-
tive pressure maintenance in the Hassi Messaoud
Field.
(3 The small Diam Niade Field has only 1 oil well and
3 gas wells. Cumulative production has been 0.03 mil-
lion barrels. 1961 production was 16,800 barrels. The
original oil in place is probably not more than 0.5 mil-
lion barrels. The proved reserves are small and prob-
ably are not over 0.1 million barrels; secondary
reserves are negligible.
2 million barre ls of miscellaneous oil from Algeria,
Angola, Congo Republic, Morocco, and Senegal are
includet in the total figure.
9,811 2,634 12,445
1.6 31.1
7.3 20.0
7.7 19.6
0.1 27.7
4.6 25.0
3.5 30.8
2.2 19.9
4.0 24.2
1.4 23.4
7.66.8
6.7
6.7
7.5
7.5
7.2
7.6
7.6
Oil Resources of Africa as of January i , 1962
(All Production and Reserve Figures in Millions of Barre
of 42 U.S. Gallons)
Country
Algeria
Angola
Congo Republic
Gabon
Libya
Morocco
Source of Information
"Activi ties of the French Oil Industr
1961", Direction des Carburants,
Ministè re de L'Industrie, République
Française, combined with information
from available United States
publications.
Antóine A. de C. da Silva Pinto, Eng.
de Minas, Direcção Provincial DosServiços de Geologia E Minas,
Provincia de Angola.
Maurice Allegre, Ingenieur des Mine
Service Recherche et Production,
Direction des Carburants, Ministèce d
L'Industrie, République Française and
"Activi ties of t he French Oil Industr
1961", Bulletin Annual No. 2, Directio
des Carburants.
Maurice Allegre, Ingenieur des Mine
Service Recherche et Production,
Direction des Carburants, Ministèrse d
L'Industrie, République Française and
"Activities of the French Oil Industry1961", Bulletin Annuel No. 2, Direction
des Carburants.
Compiled by the author from availabl
United States publications.
Compiled by the author from availabl
United States publications.
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TABLE No. IV (Continued)
Oil Resources of Africa as of Ja nua ry 1, 1962
(All Production and Reserve Figures in Millions of Barrels
of 42 U. S.Gallons)
Country Source of Information
Nigeria
Sahara
Compiled by the author from available
United States publications.
Maurice Allegre, Ingenieur des Mines,
Service Recherche et Production,
Direction des Carburants , Minist6re d e
L'Industrie, République Française and
"Activities of the French Oil Industry,
1961", Bulletin Annuel No. 2, Direction
des Carburants, See Appendix Three
for details of 1961 oil production.
Maurice Allegre, Ingenieur des Mines,
Service Recherche et Production,
Direction des Carburants, Ministère de
L'Industrie, République Française and
"Activities of the French Oil Industry,
1961", Bulletin Annuel No. 2, Direction
des Carburants.
M. S.Amin, Exploration and Production
Republic Manager, The Egyptian General
Petroleum Corporation.
United Arab
Sene ga1
Appendix Three, Table No. 1V
Production of Oil in Sahara in 1961
(All Figures in Millions of Barrels
of 42 U. S. Gallons)
Field Barrels
Hassi Messaoud
E l Gassi-El Agreb (l)
Ohanet (l)
Edjeleh
Zarzaitine
El Adeb Larache(2)
Tiguentourine (2)
Tin Fouye (3
Total
64,122,600
3,668,500
2,245,300
10,841,300
40,318,300
41,500
47,500
76,600
121,361,600
(I) Production from these fields started in 1961.
(*) All wells are shut in.
Information obtained from "Activities of the French Oil
Industry, Year 1961", Bulletin Annuel No. 2, Direction
des Carburants, Ministère de L'Industrie, République
Francaise.
,
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TABLE No. V
Oil Resources of the Middle East as of January 1, 1962
(All Production and Re serve Figure s in Millions of Barrels of 42 U. S.Gallons)
BahrainIran (Includes Offshore)
Iraq
Israel
Kuwait
Kuwait-Saudi Arab ia
Neut ral Zone (Include Offshore)
Qatar
Saudi Arabia (Includes Offshore)
Syria
Trucial C oast (Includes Offshore)
Turkey
Total Middle East
2,235 26 3200,568 4,584
98,643 3,093
63 4
149,837 4,848
23,800 231
14,383 51 9
281,840 4,765
4,256 O
17,600 O
524 15
16 245 98436 41,000 16,400
366 26,500 10,600
1 15 6
60 0 62,000 26,800
65 5,093 2,070
65 2,750 550
508 47,695 38,761
O 851 213
O 4,000 1,000
3 131 52
343 .78 1.44 4.66 27.1 6.757,400 21.16 25.01 .76 30.9 7.4
37,100 17.77 16.88 .99 40.7 7.45
2 1 .O5 .O2 4.76 39.7 7.2
88,800 29.13 26.45 .68 62.5 7.2
7,163 3.15 1.29 .91 31.1 6.9
3,300 3.15 2.83 1.97 26.6 7.6
86,456 24.66 26.00 5 9 32.4 7.3
1,064 O 25.0
5,000 O 28,4
183 .15 .O8 1.64 37.8 6.75~~ ~
793,749 18,328 2,060 190,280 96,550 286,830
TABLE No. V (Continued)
Oil Resources of the Middle East as of January 1 , 1962
(All Production and Reserve Figures in Millions of Barrels of 42 U. S . Gallons)
Country Source of Information
Iran
Iraq
Israel
Kuwait
Bahrain H. H. Arnold, Jr., Chairman of th e
Board, American Overseas
Petroleum, Ltd., supplemented
with information from the
Proceeding s of th e First Arab
Petroleum Congress.
G.R.
Nikpay, National Iranian OilCompany, supplemented with
information from Proceedings of
three Arab Petroleum Congresses
plus information from available
United State s publications.
Compiled from Proce edings of th ree
Arab Petroleum Congresses plus
information from available United
States publications.
S. Malki, Petroleum Engineer and
Technical Advisor, P etroleum Com-
missioner's Office, State of Israel.
M. K. Adasani, Technical Assistant,
General Oil Affairs Department,Ministry of Finance a nd Economy,
Gov ernme nt of Kuwait, supple-
mented b y information from
Proceedings of Three Arab Petro-
leum Congresses, plus information
.72 38.4
Coun try Source of Information
available from United States
publications.
Kuwait-Saudi Arabia Issam Kabbani, Deputy Director
Gene ral, Ministry of Petroleum an
Miner al Reso urces, Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia.
D.D. Hayter, Public Relations
Department, Iraq Petroleum
Company, Ltd., supplemented by
information from the Proceedings
of th e First Arab Petroleum
Congress.
Issam Kabb ani, Deputy Director
General, Ministry of Petroleum a
Miner al Resourc es, Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia.
M. EI Alem, Director General,
General Petroleum Authority,
Syrian Arab Republic.
Compiled from Proceedings of Fi
Arab Petroleum Congress plusinformation available from Unite
States publications.
Kemal R. Aksal, President, Turki
Petroleum Administration, plus
information available from Unite
States publications.
Neutral Zone
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
Syria
Trucial Coast
Turkey
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_ _ _ _ _
TABLE No. VI
Oil Resources of Asia, Australia, and Oceania as of January 1, 1962
(All Produc tion and Reserve Figures in Millions of Bar rels of 42 U. S. Gallons)
Country (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10 ) (11)
Australia
British Borneo
Burma
China -tMongolia (3)
India (4)
Indonesia
JapanWestern New Guinea
Pakistan
Philippines
Taiwan
Thailand
Total
8 0 (*I 2 (9 2
2,630 631 31 684i 34 718
1,300 310 4 40 5 45
1,600 100 25 300 30 33 0
1,817 ?9 4 45 0 25 475
21,422 2,382 15 5 8,379 84 8,463
601 80 5 46 12 58128 27 1 5 1 6
22 0 32 2 25 5 30
3 0 (5)
9 2 (7 O
1 (1 (7) (1 O
29,739 3,643 2 27 9,931 196 10,127
13.66
1 76
11 o2
1 76
68.28
2.200.44
0.88
17.32
8.51
2.74
2.17
65.39
2.20.74
.88
.O5
TABLE No. VI (Continued)
Oil Resources of Asia, Australia, and Oceania as of January 1, 1962
(All Production and Reserve Figures in Millions of Barrels of 42 U.S. Gallons)
Country Source of Information
Australia
British Borneo
Burma
China-FMongolia 3)
India (4)
Indonesia
Estimated by the author from
information in the August 27, 1962
issue of The Oil and Gas Journal.
Based on information obtained
from Asiatic Petroleum Corpora-
tion (z) American Overseas Petro-
leum, Ltd. (2) , and Standardvacuum
Oil Company supplemented by
calculations of the author .
K. W. Bond, General Manager,
The Burma Oil Co. (1954), Ltd.
C. L. Moore, Foreign Production
Specia list, Office of Oil and Gas,
United States Department of theInterior.
S. D. Bhambri, Deputy Secretary
to the Governm ent of India ,
Minis try of Mines and Fuel,
supplemented by information from
availabl e United States publications.
Based on information obtained
from Asiatic Petroleum Corpora-
tion (z), American Overseas Petro-
leum, Ltd. (2) and Standard Vacuum
F o o t n o t e s :
(I ) First commercial field discovered in 1961; no produc-
tion history.
(2) As reported in th e Bulletin of the American Associa-
tion of Petroleum Geologists, Volum e 46, No. ?, July,
(3) Information on China and Mongolia is uncertain and
of questionable accuracy.
(4) Information submitted on India's Oil Resources was:
Estimated original oil content of Oil India Limited's
reservoirs: 39.3922 million metric tons = 294 million
barrels; primary oil reserves of Oil India Limited and
Assam Oil Company: 48.6167 million metric tons =
1962, pp. 1281-1297.
4.3
8.9
7.6
.8
1.8
8.616.6
6.6
2.2
51.3
27.3
26.8
30.5
50.6
22.925.8
28.2
22.2
46.3
7.531
7.464
7.266
7.464
7.386
6.6797.468
7.506
7.610
Country Source of. Information
Oil Company (z), supplemented by
calculations of the auth or.
Japan Katsu Kaneko, Director, Geological
Survey of Ja pan , supplemented by
calculations of the author.
Western New Guinea Based on information obtained
from Standard Vacuum Oil Com-
pany (z), supplemented by calcu-
lations of the author.
Pakistan Ashig Ali, Deputy Direc tor,
Natural Resources Division, Mini-
stry of Industries an d Natural
Resources, Government of Pakistan,
supplemented by calculations
of the author.
Philippines Philippines Bureau of Mines.
Taiwan Chinese Petroleum Corporation
supplemented by information from
availabl e United States publications.
Thailand Developed from information in
availabl e United States publications.
36 3 million barrels; additional recovery from gas or
water injection of Assam Oil Company: 1 million
metric tons = 7.464 million barrels. Cumulative pro-
duction and 1961 production, also, were supplied.
( 5 ) One shallow field discovered in 1961; no production
history; total reserves, in all prohability, less than
1 million barrels.
(6) 1961 production = 16,632 barrels; proved reserves as
of 1/1/62 = 0.2 million barrels; secondary reserves
are negligible.
(1 Cumulative production to 1/1/62 = 187,850 barrels;
1961 production = 18,250 barrels; proved reserves =0.1 million barrels; secondary reserves are negligible.
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TABLE No. VI1
Summary of World Oil Resources as of January 1, 1962
(All Production and Reserve Figures in Millions of Barrels of 42 U. S . Gallons)-ontinent or Region (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (1
Western Hemisphere 610,592 91,305 4,158 59,543 25,656 85,199 51.5 69.5 4.9 2Europe and the Soviet Union 108,768 17,493 1,451 27,485 8,645 36,130 17.9 13.3 4.0 4
Africa 55,904 618 180 9,811 2,634 12,445 2.2 0.5 1.4 2
Middle East 793,749 18,328 2,060 190,280 96,550 286,830 25.5 13.9 .? 3
Asia, Australia, and Oceania 29,739 3,643 227 9,931 196 10,127 2.9 2.8 2.2 4
Total 1,598,752 131,383 8,076 297,050 133,681 430,731 1.9 35
Identification of Column Numbers
(1) Estimation of Original Oil Content of Reservoirs.
(2) Total Oil Production to 1/1/62.(3) 1961 Oil Production.
(4) Primary Oil Reserves.
(5) Additional Oil Reserves from Conventional Fluid In-
jection Operations.
(6) Combined Primary and Fluid Injection Reserves;
(Column4 + Column 5).
(7) Percent of 1961 World Production.
(8) Percent of Cumulative World Production.
(9) Percent of Combined Reserves Produced in 19
( Co*umn x 1O0 %) .Column 3
(10) Percent of Oil in Place that will be Recovered Ac-
cording to Present Expectations;
Column 2 + Column 6
Column 1x 100%).
TABLE No. VI11
Growth of World Crude Oil Reserves for Selected Years 1944-1961
(All Figures in Millions of Barrels of 42 U. S . Gallons)
Continent or Region 1944 (I) 1949 (l ) 1954 (I) 1959 (I) 1961
Western Hemisphere 27,550 34,663 44,077 56,379 59,5
Europe and the Soviet Union 6,365 4,879 10,181 28,642 27,4Africa 86 122 158 4,118 9,8Middle East 15,500 32,621 78,160 173,951 190,2Asia, Australia. and Oceania 1,183 1,317 2,583 10,147 9,9
Total 50,684 73,602 135,159 273,237 297,0
F o o t n o t e s :
(l ) From The Oil and Gas Journa l; "A History of the Pe-
(2)
From Column 4of
Table No. 7.
troleum Administration for War".
This paper was presented on June 22, 1963, by
P. D. TORREY.
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Discussion
A. R. MARTINEZ (OPEC, GenevdSwitzerland).
First of all I would like to commend Dr. Torrey and
his colleagues for the very good paper they have
presented. Such a compilation of data will be ex-
tremely useful to all' those interested in world oil
resources. It certainly took a lot of work to prepare,
although, when you reduce it all to a few lines of
numbers, you might not easily realize the hours
actually spent in its preparation.
Now, it seems to me that the usage of the term
"resources" might be inappropriate, since oil in place
is not resources. Recently those volumes of oil in
place have been termed "base stocks", from which
the actual resources would be estimated by means
of certain percentages. I do not think this procedure
is very rational.
A most important contribution to scientific know-
ledge by Dr. Torrey and his collaborators is the setof figures in column 1 of the tables. That is, the
estimation of the volumes of the original oil content
of the reservoirs. If these volumes were arrived at
through studies of the volumetric capacity of the oil
reservoirs, then the figure is all right, but I do not
think this is the case. I wonder, then, if the actua l
place in the tables indicates that these figures were
also the first calculated, or if they a re the estimates
made after the proved reserves and accumulated
production have been converted into in situ volumes.
Finally, I would like to say that it should always
be remembered that all estimates of oil resources a resubject to correction and revision in a continuous
manner. But there is no doubt that sudi studies are
very valuable, even though the results might not be
as exact and precise as some geoscientists would
like them to be.
P.D. TORREY replies. Dr. Martínez's comments on
the definition of the word "resources" causes me to
call attention to the difference that exists in the
interpreta tion of words, which, in a way, corresponds
with differences in the units with which oil is mea-
sured in various nations of the world. "Resources",
as they have been considered by my co-authors andby me, consist of items of na tura l wealth that ar e
susceptible to recovery. They do not, necessarily,
have to be available for recovery at the present time,
but they may be recoverable or developed in the
future, such as undeveloped hydroelectric resources.
We cannot predict with precision how much oil re-
covery efficiency will be improved in t h e future, but
the trend in recent years certainly indicates that con-
tinued improvement will take place. Thus, oil which
Dr. Martínez does not consider to be a "resource" at
this time, ve ry conceivably, might be a "resource" in
the next decades.
With regard to Dr. Martínez's comments about the
figures in Column 1 of the respective tables, I should
like to state that in most cases, particularly for the
large producing nations, they have been developed
independently of other reserve calculations and they
represent an evaluation of individual oil reservoir
data . In the case of a few nations, which did not
cooperate in our study, we were compelled to esti-
mate the original oil content of oil reservoirs by an
analysis of the production performance of various
fields.
D. C. ION (British Petroleum Company Ltd., Lon-
donlEngland). The authors and in turn their corre-
spondents are to be congratulated on amassing the
material presented and it is hoped that some vehicle
may be found for publication of the detailed infor-
mation not included in this paper.
We welcome the repetition of trust in the oil indu-
stry's resources and ability to find more oil.
The aspect of te rtiary reserves estimated by Dr.
Torrey for the U.S.A. is a commendable attempt to
put into figures what in most estimates is left vague.
However, any attempt at too rigid separation be-
tween primary and secondary and tertiary reserves
in most other countries than U.S.A. is fraught with
difficulty. The modem practice in some new fields
of entering into pressure maintenance or water flood
immediately after discovery blurs the distinction
between primary and secondary oil and again some
deposits, like those of the Athabasca Oil Sands, may
only be recoverable by what elsewhere would be
rightly termed "Tertiary" methods.
The figures given for oil in place in known reser-
voirs are most valuable. Outside the U.S.A. it would
seem that one must then jump to some estimate of
ultimate oil in place and then work back by apply-ing a recovery factor according to the type of reser-
voir in order to obtain the ultimate recoverable
figure, (i. e., oil produced by both proved and un-
proved methods) as indeed Mr. Martínez in his later
paper attempts to do for Venezuela.
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I think that at this Congress it is important to con-
sid er the implications of Dr. Torr ey's attempt to
quantify possible future tertiary recovery.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
*
COMMENT ON "WORLD OIL RESOURCES"
by P.D. Torrev et al.
TABLE I - .S.A.
Billion Barrels a s of 1.1.62
Torrey King Hubbert*
Cumulativ e Production 67.6
Primary Reserves 31.4
Total Recoverable Oil 175
Primary Oil discovered 99 99
Primary Oil still to be discovered 76
Secondary and Tertiary Oil
associated with 4. above. 56.5 (56.5)
Ditto with item 5. above
on same proportion as item 6.
to item 4. (42.9)King Hubbert's Total Recoverable
amended by Torrey's allowance
for additional recovery. (274.4)
"Energy Resources ", National Ac ademy of S ciences,
Publication 1000-D, Was hington 1962
First, the U.S.A. Table I s hows that if Dr. King
Hubb ert's recent es tima te of 76 b. b. still to be found
is of oil similar to Dr. Torrey's primary r eserves, then
the Torrey allowances for secondary and tertiary
recovery would give a to tal of 275 b. b. of recover-
able oil for the U.S.A. King Hubbert's peak by 1970for U.S. production might not be effected but the
slope of his production cu rve thereafte r would cer-
tainly be. U S . domestic production would plateau
rather than peak.
Secondly, the Middle East. Dr. Torrey's figures for
known primary and secondary oil may be higher
than some estimates and applying his total known
world r ecove rable oil figure of 861 b. b. pro rata to
his Middle East figures gives a final recovery factor
of 56O/o, which many m ay consider high but m ay not
be beyond the point of possibility.
Thirdly, Venezuela. I hope to comment later on
the implications of Dr. Torr ey's approach after Mr.
Martínez's paper.
Fourthly, the World . It is interesting to apply Dr.
Tor rey's al lowan ce to the world figures of total re-
coverable oil given by Dr. King Hubbert. Table II
1.
2.
3.
4.5.
6.
7.
8.
*
TABLE II - WORLD
Billion Barrels as of 1. 1.6
Torrey King Hubbert
Cumulative Production 131
Primary Reserves 297
Total Recoverab le Oil 1250
Primary Oil discovered 428 428Primary Oil still to be discovered 822
Secondary and Tertiary Oil
associated with 4. above
(Torrey's Total Recoverable Oil
Secondary and Tertiary Oil
associated with 5. above
on same proportion as item 6 .
to item 4. above. (830)
King Hubbert's Total Recoverable
amended by Torrey's ,allowance
for additional recovery. (2513)
"Energy Resource s", National A cademy of Sciences ,
being 861 b. b.) 433 (433)
Publication 1000-D, Washington 1962
shows the calculation similar to that of Table
whe reby King Hubber t's figure of 1,250 b. b . is ex
tended t o 2,500 b. b. The Weeks' 1961 figure for tot
recoverable oil is, of course, 3,500 b. b.
In brief, therefore, whilst the attempt by Dr. Torre
to carry his U.S.A. tertiary reserves ratios over t
the world is intended only as a guide, yet the resul
do not appear to conflict with previous es timates o
ultimate reserves .
However, in comparing the T orrey and King Hu
bert figures, I hope that I ha ve not been guilty of thcardinal sin of comparing "apples and pea rs", b
even if I have then the m ajor point is emphasize
that all reserve estimates can be extremely dang
rous if handled wrongly. It is so easy to equa
completely different types of oil reserves and jum
to wrong conclusions, which may well affect priva
or governmental investment, policy or action.
Recently, in Europe, we have had an extreme
good example of th is point. The Western Europea
Coal Producers took a n estimate of prim ary reserve
given in 1962 and then proceeded to calculate a d
ficiency of oil, ignoring the secondary recovefigures given in the same paper, which itself did n
fully consider the tertiary recovery possibilities. Th
result has been that a most misleading pic ture of th
industry has been widely publicised in Weste
Europe, which it is hoped Dr. Torrey's Paper will g
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some way to combat, and I would lik e to foster dis-
cussion on this aspect of Dr. Tor rey's world re serves
figures.
P. D. TORREY replies. W e respectfully desi re to
call attenti on to th e fact th at we hav e only considered
oil in place that has already been discovered. Thus
our approach differs radically from that of Dr. Hub-
bert and other authorities, who have endeavored to
project future oil discovery.
W e have recognized, and, as a matter of fact, have
emphasized the danger s of applying United States
oil recovery experien ce to other nations for the very
reasons which Mr. Ion has mentioned. Consequ ently,
we have depended largely on information that has
been supplied to us by various national authorities.
W e think tha t the recovery figures we ha ve listed
represent the best information that can be developed
at this time, but we would b e the first to admit th at
in future times these figures may not be subject toconsiderable revision. This is already the case, as
our paper st ates, in respect to the reco verable reser-
ves of the Kingdom of Saud i Arabia . We cannot
disagree with the projection of future rec overy from
the fields of Saudi Arabia, as they ha ve been ma de
by authoritie s of that n ation, for we are awa re how
grossly oil reserves have been u nderestim ated in the
past, We do believe that the people who have con-
tributed information on national oil reserves are
competent, and, as we have stated, we regret very
much that space limitations prevent us from inclu-
ding detailed information o n oil resources which has
been supplied to us by various natio nal authorities.
W. RUHL (Deutsche Erdöl-AG., Hamburg 1Ger-
many). Contrary to the term "oil in place" which has
been fixed terminologically by different authors,
there is no general agreement which geological,
physical, and economic factors ha ve to b e part of
the terminological fixation of the term "recoverable
rese rves ". Although, originally , a discussion of this
question was planned at this Congress, the problem
was given up bec ause it is not on ly ver y complex
but also ver y d elicate. There is hard ly a possibility
to reconcile with each other all the parameters, for,
apar t from the different physical prediction methods
and from the conventional economic factors as pre-
sent costs and crude prices and their tendencies -especially marketing questions as offer and sale,
exports and imports -, economic policy and even
world-policy play a grea t part.
In view of this situation we think th at Mr. Torrey
and his co- authors have well proce eded in th is field.
The classification into the groups "original oil con-
tent" , "primary recovery", and "additional reserves
from conventional fluid injection operations" is a
simple but good basis, not only to estimate the pre-
sent technical level but also to realize within a fewyears the technical and economic tendencies and to
apply them to future predictions. Therefore, one
should consider earnestly to find a way to come to
uniform statistics for all co untries on the basis which
Mr. Torre y used. Up to now , most of the oil pro-
ducing countries have in their statistics just the term
"recoverable reserves" without saying, how these
were determined and what th ey really mean. I think,
it should not be too difficult to come to a world-wide
understand ing in respect of th e terminolo gy of "pri-
mary" and "secondary recovery" or "fluid injection
methods".
P. D. TORREY replies. I appreciate highly the per-
tinent remarks of Professor Rühl.
Professor Rühl has recognized, a s my co-a uthors
and I have, the confusion that exists in definitions
concernin g oil reserves and the manner in which they
are recovered. Thus, we can heartily endorse the
proposals he has made concerning an agreement on
definitions.
T. A. HENDRICKS (United States Geological Sur-
vey, Denver, Co1oradolU.S.A.). This excellent paper
is certain to serve as a basic reference and source ofdata until additional development in future years
makes revision necessary. It should be made clear
that the paper treats with estimated oil in place in
known fields. Therefore, it by no means represents
an estim ate of the total oil reso urces of the world.
Such resources would include: 1) Fields yet to be
discovered , wether economically producible or too
costly to produce under present conditions; 2) oil in
the ground that will not be discovered because it is
Even in the United States, where ex ploration has
been most intensive, six times a s much favo rable
area is unexplored as that which has been adequately
explored. It is true that the obviously favorable areas
hav e been explored and that the incidence of oil in
the unexp lored area s will be less. In th e remainder of
the world, the proportion of unexp lored to explored
area s is much greater.
too costly.
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When oil in fields to be discovered and in deposits
too costly to be found by foreseeable methods, is
added to the oil originally in place in known fields
estimated by the authors, the amount will far exceed
their figures. The amount of this oil to be discovered
sideration. We realize that many of the figures
our paper were already obsolete on the day the
were presented to the Congress, this being due to t
time that is required to assemble statistics on
World-wide basis.
and the smaller amount to be produced will depend
on continued improvement of geological and engi-neering techniques.
I wish to express the hope that a paper on this
subject will be a part of the program of all future
World Petroleum Congresses.
P.D. TORREY replies. Mr. Hendricks' comments
about our paper are timely and are worthy of con-
by the permanent organization of the World Petr
leum Congress would be most helpful.
As authors of the paper on "World Oil Resource
we can appreciate the value of continuing the studi
on which our paper has been based. It can be point
out tha t the assembly of the information is an unde
taking of considerable size, and that if a decision
made to continue the studies. the direct sDonsorsh
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