US EIA Cuts Recoverable Monterey Shale Oil Estimate By 96%

Oil driller Occidental, one of the major leaseholders in the state, earlier this year put its California business up for sale in part due to lagging oil production.

"Not all resources are created equal," Sieminski said. "It turned out that it is harder to crack the reservoirs and get the oil flowing from the Monterey" than from Bakken or the south Texas formation of Eagle Ford.

The downgrade will not impact near term production in the Monterey, estimates of which have increased to 57,000 barrels per day on average between 2010 and 2040, the EIA said on Wednesday. Last year's estimate for 2010 to 2040 was 14,000 barrels per day.

The downgrade does not mean that the oil will not one day be recovered, Sieminski said. Indeed, much of the oil and gas in the Bakken and Marcellus was not always considered recoverable as technology lagged.

"The rocks are still there," said Sieminski. "The technology is not there yet."

(Reporting by Edward McAllister; Editing by Grant McCool and Marguerita Choy)


12

View Full Article

WHAT DO YOU THINK?


Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.


Most Popular Articles