Talk:Oil and gas reserves and resource quantification

Untitled

The article is a revision of the existing Wikipedia article on Oil reserves, which has been updated (2022) and simplified, but broadened to consolidate oil & gas reserves as well as resource estimates. A summary of other changes:

• Country specific references have been removed, as well as maps and ranking tables, which by definition change (weekly) with changing circumstances (exceptions and ephemera create burdens and complexity)

• sub headings Proven reserves, Unproven reserves and Strategic petroleum reserves are little changed from the original article, which will be merged with this draft to preserve the history

• Redirects will include Oil Reserves, Gas reserves, Hydrocarbon reserves, Oil Resources, Gas resources, Hydrocarbon resources, Petroleum reserves, Petroleum resources

Topical

Why is this revision important now? During an energy crisis, when the world is suddenly looking to natural gas to support short-term energy shortfalls, it is important that its commercial significance is explained in terms of global trading and why oil & gas are intrinsically linked. This is precisely the time when rules and definitions are often overlooked in the rush to resolve difficulty and the precisely the time when those rules should not be abandoned. Wikipedia is currently unclear about how natural gas features in global markets - hopefully this article (crafted over three months from expert consensus opinion) will now clarify gas' place in the upstream energy business and make it more difficult for some to make claims outside of the boundaries of commercial or environmental acceptability.

Carbon price?

The draft does not say whether reserves depend on the carbon price and I don't know the answer - would many people ask the question? Chidgk1 (talk) 14:22, 20 June 2022 (UTC)

Thanks for the challenge @Chidgk1:. I don't have an answer either but I like the way this is going. The answer may well be "No" and I think I know who would know. It may take a couple of weeks but I will try to get an answer for you.Guy WF Loftus (talk) 05:54, 21 June 2022 (UTC)

From what I can see, the answer is currently "No" - but SEC are ahead of the game here, as it appears they will bring offset disclosure rules into the reporting requirements - so if not mandating a carbon price, they will require disclosure along with greenhouse emissions metrics - have a look here <https://www.forbes.com/sites/taxnotes/2022/05/02/could-the-sec-climate-rule-help-carbon-taxation/?sh=55a8b55d3820> and let me know what you think.Guy WF Loftus (talk) 09:45, 21 June 2022 (UTC)

There is also some discussion on this in a paper I cited in the Draft article <https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1045235418300467#f0005>. Guy WF Loftus (talk) 09:56, 21 June 2022 (UTC)

Thanks - the papers are a bit beyond my understanding - I'll leave it to you to explain in laymans terms in the article. Chidgk1 (talk) 05:59, 22 June 2022 (UTC)

@Chidgk1: - I'll do as you advise - perhaps another subsection on implications for reserves reporting during the energy transition.Guy WF Loftus (talk) 08:41, 22 June 2022 (UTC)

Price?

The lead says "Oil and gas reserves are sensitive to global market price" but the details are not explained in the body. For example are Russian gas reserves still calculated by the "global market price" (if that even exists) of gas despite their large discounts? Chidgk1 (talk) 14:27, 20 June 2022 (UTC)

Fair point - I have tried to remove exceptionalism by country to make the article more sustainable (country interests are ephemeral) but that doesn't explain the statement you challenge. Oil is a globally traded commodity, ergo it is sensitive to market price (truism?) but gas may have a domestic component (Domgas), so perhaps this needs qualification. I'll put this to the panel.Guy WF Loftus (talk) 05:54, 21 June 2022 (UTC)

The panel? As I don't understand economics I have tried getting help from Wikipedia:WikiProject_Economics for various articles in the past but without much response. Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Finance_&_Investment might be worth a try. Chidgk1 (talk) 06:03, 22 June 2022 (UTC)

It is hard to know when to stop providing education to aid illumination. I think the lead paragraph should be the direct response to the Wikipedia searchers' enquiry - the subsections go a bit deeper, whilst providing the links for searchers' own education (we can't give lessons in economics but if we apply economic terms, we should at least tell people where to go with hyperlinks). On "the panel", in the Oil reserves talk page, I mentioned putting together a panel to assist in the updating of this article. I am, like you, just a wiki editor but with a real identity which is searchable and accountable - as far as reserves are concerned, I am an adequate practitioner of reserves reporting but like you, I am not an expert. So I assembled a panel of 10 industry, technical and academic experts to advise me in my role as moderator for the topic. I felt it was the best way resolve the content issues facing this article. Wikipedia are perfectly happy with the article as it is - but they don't have the content knowledge to verify the integrity of the article, relying on incremental shakedown to stabilise content. That normal process will resume if we merge the two articles in 2 weeks or so - if this discussion proves that we are on the wrong track, then we will leave the article as it is and close down this draft. Your @Chidgk1: continued contributions and those of other contributors will aid that process.Guy WF Loftus (talk) 08:41, 22 June 2022 (UTC)

Merger Discussion

The Draft merger has now been submitted to Main space - if approved, it is recommended that the original article Oil reserves be deleted as it is an expanded repeat article (see the top of this talk page for details).

As the article is considered for review, please note that the content is important to underpin an understanding today's global oil and gas prices during a global energy crisis. This Draft represents hundreds of man hours of expert opinion and should be carefully considered by those with content knowledge as much as for delivery within the requirements for Wikipedia articles.Guy WF Loftus (talk) 06:15, 14 October 2022 (UTC)

The article has now moved to mainspace and supercedes the old article Oil reservesGuy WF Loftus (talk) 14:22, 6 November 2022 (UTC)

So by “supercedes” I understand you want the old article deleted and have started a deletion discussion for you. If I understood wrong feel free to undo my changes. If I undeerstood right you will need to explain in that discussion (not here) why it should be deleted. Chidgk1 (talk) 14:47, 6 November 2022 (UTC)

Now published and merged using a redirect - so it is reversible, with the history preserved.Guy WF Loftus (talk) 08:55, 9 November 2022 (UTC)

Do you know what “confirmed capacity” means please?

https://www.offshore-technology.com/news/wood-contract-sakarya-field/ says “ the Sakarya gas field has a confirmed capacity of 405 billion cubic metres”. Do you know what that means please?

I ask because I am trying to improve Oil and gas in Turkey to “good” standard. Chidgk1 (talk) 17:01, 6 November 2022 (UTC)

I am not familiar with the expression as a general term but capacity would normally refer to the production potential of a facility - so I would imagine that the figure quoted is what the production facilities are capable of under full stretch. You need to talk to a production specialist to confirm this.Geneus01 (talk) 07:34, 10 November 2022 (UTC)

Can stranded gas be a reserve?

Should Stranded gas reserve be renamed, perhaps to simply “stranded gas”? Because it seems from this article that all the gas now stranded in Russia is a resource rather than a reserve? Chidgk1 (talk) 17:25, 6 November 2022 (UTC)

No - because by definition there needs to be a commercial development plan. Stranded gas is a concept around commercial circumstance specific to a country and their access to gas markets. You can literally turn it over with a simple decision overnight. As such there is no generic context to bring to this article but of course as a term, it is well used and may deserve its own linked stub. That is my opinion but willing to be challenged on that. Guy WF Loftus (talk) 08:54, 9 November 2022 (UTC)

Sorry I don’t understand - what definition? Chidgk1 (talk) 12:52, 17 November 2022 (UTC)

The definitions of reserves articulated by this article. Guy WF Loftus (talk) 06:24, 18 November 2022 (UTC)

The first sentence here says “ Oil and Gas reserves denote discovered quantities of crude oil and natural gas (oil or gas fields) that can be profitably produced/recovered from an approved development.” So “stranded” seems to contradict “reserve” as surely “stranded” means it cannot be profitably produced? Perhaps the first sentence of Stranded gas reserve is wrong? Maybe "stranded gas reserves" used to be "reserves" but now are not? Chidgk1 (talk) 06:43, 18 November 2022 (UTC)

I am being stupid - my apologies; you are correct. Stranded gas can never be reserves (I didn't read reserves because for me stranded gas is just that - not reserves). Guy WF Loftus (talk) 07:49, 20 November 2022 (UTC)