美帝又发现超大规模 （Largest ever ）油气田# Stock
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Largest ever continuous oil and gas resource found in the United States
ENERGY
David Szondy
December 9th, 2018
Some 46.3 billion barrels of oil, 281 trillion cubic feet of natural gas,
and 20 billion barrels of natural gas liquids are estimated to be underTexas
and New Mexico(Credit: bluebay2014/Depositphotos)
As the United States becomes a net oil exporter for the first time in 75
years, the US Department of the Interior has announced the discovery of the
largest continuous oil and gas field ever found. Situated in the Wolfcamp
Shale and overlying Bone Spring Formation in Texas and the Permian Basin in
New Mexico, the new resource is estimated to contain 46.3 billion barrels of
oil, 281 trillion cu ft of natural gas, and 20 billion barrels of natural
gas liquids worth trillions of dollars.
One of the problems when it comes to understanding the oil and gas industry
is that the terminology can be misleading. For example, when someone asks
how much oil or gas there is, the answer is almost invariably that we have
enough to last 20 years. That seems straightforward enough and argues for
the phasing out of increasingly scarce fossil fuels, but the curious thing
is that 20 years ago we had 20 years worth of oil and gas, and the same was
true 20 years before that, and will probably be true in 20 years time.
This is because what that 20-year figure deals with are reserves or, rather
proven reserves. These are oil and gas fields that have been found with 90
percent certainty and can be recovered given the economic, technological,
and political conditions of today. Because oil and gas prospecting is
incredibly expensive, the oil companies like to find enough reserves to last
a generation and call it good.
But it isn't as simple as that. Behind the proven reserves are the probable
reserves, which are 50 percent certain, and the possible reserves, which are
10 percent certain. And there tend to be a lot more of these than the
proven reserves.
Then there are the resources, which is what the Department of the Interior
is talking about. Resources are large areas where oil and gas are known to
be, but it hasn't been determined if its economically practical to recover
them. Yet.
The "yet" is the big variable here because as new surveying, drilling, and
recovery technologies like fracking are developed, resources can very
rapidly shift up the ladder to proven reserves in the same way that wells
that were once "dry" when they were three-quarters full are now productive
again.
This is effectively how the new giant oil and gas field was found. According
to the Department of the Interior, the US Geological Survey (USGS) had
already made assessments of the Permian Basin province, though the Wolfcamp
shale and Bone Spring Formation weren't originally included. The area is
already highly productive in oil and gas, but it was only with the
introduction of new technology and studying their effects on output that the
size and wealth of the resource could be assessed. How economical it will
be to recover the oil and gas there has yet to be determined.
"In the 1980s, during my time in the petroleum industry, the Permian and
similar mature basins were not considered viable for producing large new
recoverable resources," says Dr Jim Reilly, USGS Director. "Today, thanks to
advances in technology, the Permian Basin continues to impress in terms of
resource potential. The results of this most recent assessment and that of
the Wolfcamp Formation in the Midland Basin in 2016 are our largest
continuous oil and gas assessments ever released. Knowing where these
resources are located and how much exists is crucial to ensuring both our
energy independence and energy dominance."
Of course, advances in technology have also opened up alternative energy
pathways based on renewable energy. Even if the new oil and gas resources
prove reachable, the case for economic viability could weaken as the cost of
renewables continues to drop – that's without even factoring in the
predicted economic and environmental concerns around climate change.
Largest ever continuous oil and gas resource found in the United States
ENERGY
David Szondy
December 9th, 2018
Some 46.3 billion barrels of oil, 281 trillion cubic feet of natural gas,
and 20 billion barrels of natural gas liquids are estimated to be underTexas
and New Mexico(Credit: bluebay2014/Depositphotos)
As the United States becomes a net oil exporter for the first time in 75
years, the US Department of the Interior has announced the discovery of the
largest continuous oil and gas field ever found. Situated in the Wolfcamp
Shale and overlying Bone Spring Formation in Texas and the Permian Basin in
New Mexico, the new resource is estimated to contain 46.3 billion barrels of
oil, 281 trillion cu ft of natural gas, and 20 billion barrels of natural
gas liquids worth trillions of dollars.
One of the problems when it comes to understanding the oil and gas industry
is that the terminology can be misleading. For example, when someone asks
how much oil or gas there is, the answer is almost invariably that we have
enough to last 20 years. That seems straightforward enough and argues for
the phasing out of increasingly scarce fossil fuels, but the curious thing
is that 20 years ago we had 20 years worth of oil and gas, and the same was
true 20 years before that, and will probably be true in 20 years time.
This is because what that 20-year figure deals with are reserves or, rather
proven reserves. These are oil and gas fields that have been found with 90
percent certainty and can be recovered given the economic, technological,
and political conditions of today. Because oil and gas prospecting is
incredibly expensive, the oil companies like to find enough reserves to last
a generation and call it good.
But it isn't as simple as that. Behind the proven reserves are the probable
reserves, which are 50 percent certain, and the possible reserves, which are
10 percent certain. And there tend to be a lot more of these than the
proven reserves.
Then there are the resources, which is what the Department of the Interior
is talking about. Resources are large areas where oil and gas are known to
be, but it hasn't been determined if its economically practical to recover
them. Yet.
The "yet" is the big variable here because as new surveying, drilling, and
recovery technologies like fracking are developed, resources can very
rapidly shift up the ladder to proven reserves in the same way that wells
that were once "dry" when they were three-quarters full are now productive
again.
This is effectively how the new giant oil and gas field was found. According
to the Department of the Interior, the US Geological Survey (USGS) had
already made assessments of the Permian Basin province, though the Wolfcamp
shale and Bone Spring Formation weren't originally included. The area is
already highly productive in oil and gas, but it was only with the
introduction of new technology and studying their effects on output that the
size and wealth of the resource could be assessed. How economical it will
be to recover the oil and gas there has yet to be determined.
"In the 1980s, during my time in the petroleum industry, the Permian and
similar mature basins were not considered viable for producing large new
recoverable resources," says Dr Jim Reilly, USGS Director. "Today, thanks to
advances in technology, the Permian Basin continues to impress in terms of
resource potential. The results of this most recent assessment and that of
the Wolfcamp Formation in the Midland Basin in 2016 are our largest
continuous oil and gas assessments ever released. Knowing where these
resources are located and how much exists is crucial to ensuring both our
energy independence and energy dominance."
Of course, advances in technology have also opened up alternative energy
pathways based on renewable energy. Even if the new oil and gas resources
prove reachable, the case for economic viability could weaken as the cost of
renewables continues to drop – that's without even factoring in the
predicted economic and environmental concerns around climate change.
