US oil and natgas proved reserves match or exceed historic records

WASHINGTON (ICIS)–US proved reserves of crude oil increased for the fifth year in a row in 2013, the Department of Energy (DOE) said on Thursday, exceeding 36bn bbls for the first time since 1975.

In addition, last year saw a sharp increase in proved natural gas reserves and set a new record of 354 trillion cubic feet (tcf), well ahead of the previous record high of 349 tcf seen in 2010.

In its annual report on US oil and natural gas reserves, the department’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) said that much of the gain in proven US oil reserves came in North Dakota where crude oil and lease condensate proved reserves surpassed those of the Federal Gulf of Mexico, ranking it second only to Texas among US states.

The largest tight oil play in the US last year was in the Bakken and Three Forks regions that underlie portions of North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana.

The report said that Pennsylvania and West Virginia accounted for 70% of the increase in last year’s natural gas proved reserves.

Of particular interest to US petrochemical producers, the nation’s estimated volumes of natural gas liquids increased from 10.8bn bbls in 2012 to 11.9bn bbls in 2013, a one-year gain of 11%.

The lion’s share of US resources of natural gas liquids – ethane, propane, butane and isobutane drawn from production in so-called “wet gas” fields – was in Texas, which represented 5.65bn bbls of gas liquids in 2013.

Natural gas liquids are the principal feedstock for US petrochemicals production. Natural gas also is a major energy fuel for chemicals manufacturers.

It is the newly abundant supplies of natural gas and natgas liquids from shale formations that has driven the renaissance in domestic US chemicals production, including current or planned new facilities construction valued at more than $100bn.

Paul Hodges studies key influences shaping the chemical industry in Chemicals and the Economy