The assessment of the world's oil endowment is a sensitive subject with political implications and many vested interests. Some published reserve numbers are spurious, and lax definition has led to misconceptions. Study of the world's oil endowment involves the following elements: Cumulative Production (718 Gb; Gb chemical bounds billion (10~9) barrles; numbers based on Oil and Gas Journal reserve data, updated for end 1993); Reserves (Reported less "political" - 722 Gb); Total Discovered (1440 Gb); Undiscovered (210 Gb); Remaining (932 Gb); Ultimate (1650 Gb). The rounded numbers in parentheses refer to conventional oil recoverable with toady's technology and economic, excluding NGL, heavy oil, small fields etc., as of end 1993. Discovery (展开▼
