Lower oil and natural gas prices in 2019 reversed a two-year trend of record proven reserves in the United States, with operators revising down their total proven reserve estimates, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said. on Friday.
The EIA’s annual report showed that proven reserves of crude oil and condensate leases remained basically the same in 2019 and 2018, with a very slight increase of 0.1 percent. Proven natural gas reserves, on the other hand, fell 1.9 percent, according to EIA data until the end of 2019.
That year, crude oil prices were generally lower than oil prices in 2018, with the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil price averaging $ 57 per barrel, down $ 7 per barrel compared to 2018.
“Lower crude oil prices in 2019 have led many traders to revise their total proven reserve estimates downwards, although the proven extensions and discoveries reserves have increased slightly,” said the EIA.
For comparison, higher oil and natural gas prices in 2018 have taken proven oil and gas reserves in the United States to new highs. Proven oil and natural gas reserves hit a previous record the previous year, when rising prices and the continued development of shale resources in 2017 helped push U.S. reserves to what was then a record high. In 2018, the proven U.S. crude oil reserves increased by 12%.
In 2019, the U.S. proven oil reserves of 47.1 billion barrels remain at the record level set in 2018, the EIA said in its report. Alaskan producers added 259 million barrels of proven reserves of crude and condensate oil on lease in 2019, the biggest net increase in all states.
In natural gas reserves, proven reserves recorded in 2019 the first annual reduction in the United States since 2015, with Texas showing the biggest decline with falls in large areas of shale gas, such as Eagle Ford, Barnett and Bossier.
However, total US gas reserves remain at their second highest level ever, the EIA said.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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