IEA: Unclear If Oil Reserve Growth Will Contribute to Future Supply
MOSCOW (Dow Jones Newswires), Oct. 25, 2010
Recent increases in oil reserves in Iraq, Iran and Venezuela are "good news," but it remains unclear whether they will contribute to future supply, Nobuo Tanaka, executive director of the International Energy Agency, or IEA, said Monday.
"To have more reserves is certainly good news, because it gives us a more precise prediction of costs and necessary investments," Tanaka told Dow Jones Newswires at an energy conference in Moscow. "But the issue is how much investments will happen to develop these reserves, how this will increase production capacity.
"Until then, we're not sure whether it will contribute to future supply," Tanaka said.
Iraq dramatically increased the estimate of its proven oil reserves earlier this month, the first revision to the data since 2001. Following the increase, Iran and Venezuela--both rivals for a share of total production within the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries--said they were raising their own reserves estimates.
Some experts, however, expressed skepticism that Iraq had undertaken sufficient exploration to justify the new estimate, which hasn't been independently reviewed.
Asked whether he thought the reserve increases are real, Tanaka said, "We don't know. We cannot make any assessments by ourselves."
The Paris-based energy watchdog is now analyzing investment data to access the global oil market situation to 2015.
"Depending on the current numbers, if the economy growth comes back as robust as 4% to 5% globally to 2015, then we may have a tighter market," Tanaka said.
"In the short term, we have a good supply, but in the midterm the market is getting tighter again, so we need more investments. But we haven't seen it yet," he said.
Copyright (c) 2010 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
- Falcon Oil Declares Commercial Flow Test Results for Shenandoah Well
- Japan Failing to Meet Corporate Demand for Clean Power: Amazon
- PetroChina Posts Higher Annual Profit on Higher Production
- UK Oil Regulator Publishes New Emissions Reduction Plan
- McDermott Settles Reficar Dispute
- Macquarie Strategists Expect Brent Oil Price to Grind Higher
- US, SKorea Launch Task Force to Stop Illicit Refined Oil Flows into NKorea
- Pennsylvania County Joins List of Local Govts Suing Big Oil over Climate
- Russian Navy Enters Warship-Crowded Red Sea Amid Houthi Attacks
- Equinor Makes Discovery in North Sea
- Standard Chartered Reiterates $94 Brent Call
- India Halts Russia Oil Supplies From Sanctioned Tanker Giant
- Centcom, Dryad Outline Recent Moves Around Red Sea Region
- DOI Announces Proposal for Second GOM Offshore Wind Auction
- PetroChina Set to Receive Venezuelan Oil
- Czech Conglomerate to Buy Major Stake in Gasnet for $917MM
- US DOE Offers $44MM in Funding to Boost Clean Power Distribution
- Oil Settles Lower as Stronger Dollar Offsets Tighter Market
- UK Grid Operator Receives Aid to Advance Rural Decarbonization
- Chinese Mega Company Makes Major Oilfield Discovery
- VIDEO: Missile Attack Kills Crew Transiting Gulf of Aden
- Norway Regulator Blasts Proposal to Halt New Oil and Gas Permits
- Chinese Mega Company Makes Another Major Oilfield Discovery
- What Is the Biggest Risk to Offshore Oil and Gas Personnel in 2024?
- Vessel Sinks in Red Sea After Missile Strike
- Exxon Rights in Stabroek Do Not Apply to Hess Merger with Chevron: Hess
- Analysts Reveal Latest Oil Price Outlook Following OPEC+ Cut Extension
- Equinor Makes Discovery in North Sea
- Standard Chartered Reiterates $94 Brent Call