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Global Oil & Natural Gas Reserves Increase – Breakdown by Country

Each year, the Oil & Gas Journal updates oil and natural gas reserves by each O&G-producing country. It’s a fascinating look at where the biggest (and smallest) oil and gas supplies exist on the planet. Would it surprise you to learn that three other countries have more (far more) natural gas reserves than we have here in the U.S.? Perhaps even more startling, There are eight countries with more oil reserves than the U.S. Unfortunately, most of the countries with larger supplies are enemies of the U.S.
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Do M-U Drillers have Enough Proved Reserves for Future Production?

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Although it’s not discussed often, the issue of “proved reserves,” which are volumes of oil and natural gas that geologic and engineering data demonstrate with reasonable certainty to be recoverable in future years from known reservoirs under existing economic and operating conditions, is a key issue. Have gas drillers, particularly in the Marcellus/Utica, built the inventories of proved reserves to support future production increases to meet demand? The experts of RBN Energy tackle the important issue of replacing reserves in a new post.
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Report: U.S. has Enough NatGas for 100 Yrs, but Not Enough Pipes

Yesterday, the Potential Gas Committee (PGC) released its year-end assessment of the nation’s estimated natural gas resource base, “Potential Supply of Natural Gas in the United States,” at an event hosted by the American Gas Association. Experts from the PGC presented the current state of technically recoverable reserves in the United States, providing valuable information on a region-by-region basis. We have the executive summary below. Of particular interest for us was the finding that the U.S. has enough gas to supply current and future needs for the next 100 years! Yet we do not, says the PGC, have enough pipelines to flow it.
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CNX Issues Extensive Proved Reserves Update, Added 32 Wells in 2022

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CNX Resources issued an update on its reserves yesterday. Of particular interest to most folks (in particular investors) are “proved reserves,” which are volumes of oil and natural gas that geologic and engineering data demonstrate with reasonable certainty to be recoverable in future years from known reservoirs under existing economic and operating conditions. CNX says proved “developed” reserves at the end of 2022 were 6.2 Tcfe (trillion cubic feet equivalent). However, total reserves, which include Proved, Probable, and Possible Reserves (3P), equaled 11.7 Tcfe.
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EIA Proved NatGas Reserves Report – WV 3rd Highest Increase in US

The number crunchers at the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) have analyzed proved reserves data for 2021 (the most recent year available) and have determined that proved reserves soared, up by 32% from the previous year. Why? Five of the eight states with the most proved reserves of natural gas each reported new record volumes, driving the growth nationally. And one of those five is a Marcellus/Utica state: West Virginia.
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Coterra Develops New Method for Predicting NatGas & Oil Reserves

Coterra Energy (formerly Cabot Oil & Gas) remains one of our favorite Marcellus/Utica drillers. We personally know some of the great people who work there. We’ll never forget having a private tour of a drill site in Susquehanna County, PA by Coterra’s chief Marcellus driller, Buddy Wylie. During the tour, Buddy waxed eloquent on mud logging, showing us rock chips under a microscope. Seeing a drilling operation up close, understanding how wells are planned a year or more in advance, coordinating all of the logistics (when the sand needs to arrive, pipe inventory, trucks to move equipment, backhoes to get the pad ready, etc.) it dawned on us, this stuff really is rocket science! The smart folks at Coterra have done it again–more rocket science. This time they’ve developed a new method for predicting natural gas and oil reservoirs.
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EIA: U.S. Proved Reserves for Natural Gas Fell 4% in 2020

The number crunchers at the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) have analyzed proved reserves data for 2020 (the most recent year available) and have determined proved reserves dropped by 4% in 2020. Why? Due to the lower price natural gas was fetching. In these days of natgas flirting with $4-$5/MMBtu it may be hard to recall that just a little more than a year ago gas was bumping around in the $2-$3 range.
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Biennial Report Shows Recoverable U.S. NatGas Reserves Fall

Earlier this week the Potential Gas Committee (PGC) released the results of its latest biennial assessment of the nation’s natural gas resources. The report shows the U.S. possesses a total mean “technically recoverable resource base” of 3,368 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) as of year-end 2020. That number is 6 Tcf (or 0.2%) less than the amount of gas assessed in the previous period (from year-end 2018). The slight decrease breaks a trend of seven consecutive record-high resource evaluations. However, the report also shows we have more than enough gas to provide not only our own country’s needs, but also the gas needs for much of the world too.
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CNX Reviews 2020 Marcellus/Utica Drilling, Updates Proved Reserves

Two weeks ago CNX Resources issued its 4Q and full-year 2020 update, except at the time they didn’t issue the usual press release with a summary overview (see CNX CEO DeIuliis Says 2020 was Co’s “Most Successful Year” Ever). Yesterday the company issued an update on proved reserves and included what we consider the missing information from two weeks ago, summarizing the company’s drilling program in 2020.
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CNX Proved Reserves Up 7%, More Color on 2019 Drilling Numbers

Nearly two weeks ago CNX Resources issued its fourth quarter and full-year 2019 update (see CNX Reports $271M Loss in 4Q19; Cutting Back on 2020 Drilling). Yesterday CNX issued a followup, further outlining details about their 2019 drilling program (41 Marcellus and 10 Utica wells), along with an update on the company’s proved reserves. CNX reports total proved reserves of 8.43 Tcfe (trillion cubic feet equivalent) as of December 31, 2019, a 7% increase over Dec. 2018.
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New Research Promises More Accuracy in Marc. Reserve Estimates

We spotted a newly published study (published just yesterday) in Scientific Reports, an online open access scientific mega journal published by Nature, that looks at a new and better way to evaluate shale oil and gas reserves–the amount of stuff in the ground. What’s special about this report, written by researchers at the University of Utah, is that it specifically used the Marcellus Shale as its test subject.
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Using Independent Data to Evaluate Shale Drilling Reserves

Last year a hedge fund manager tried pitching a fund that would “bet against” shale drillers to investors. At the time he was “basically kicked out of every office in New York City.” Good! However, the now-former hedge fund manager has an advisory service that in a sense also disparages the shale industry, but perhaps performs a valuable service for the industry. The new company uses data that is number-crunched from state records, applying assumptions that are “more realistic” than numbers offered by companies in investor presentations when it comes to how much the wells they *will* drill will produce. That is, this new service provides a more realistic look at reserves–proven and otherwise.
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USGS Says Utica has More Recoverable Shale Gas than Marcellus!

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) released a bombshell of a report yesterday. Two reports, actually. USGS periodically updates its estimates of how much oil and natural gas is still not accessed but is “technically recoverable” in various shale plays. The last time USGS evaluated the Marcellus and Utica plays was in 2011, when the two plays combined had 122 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of recoverable gas. In yesterday’s report, USGS says that number has almost doubled, to 214 Tcf. But the biggest surprise is that the Utica has MORE recoverable gas than the Marcellus!
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Report: Marcellus/Utica Contains 41% of ‘Potential’ NatGas in US

The Potential Gas Committee (PGC), a private non-profit organization loosely affiliated with the Colorado School of Mines, performs a comprehensive study of potential supplies of natural gas in the United States every two years. The latest biennial study has just been published and finds natural gas supplies in the “Atlantic” area, which includes the Marcellus/Utica (is primarily the M-U), once again leads the country–now with the highest supplies ever.
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CNX, Range Resources Proved Reserves Both Go Up

It’s that time of year for energy companies to issue updates on just how much oil and gas they own in the ground, recoverable at current prices. Both CNX Resources and Range Resources, two major Marcellus/Utica producers, recently issued statements outlining their “proved reserves.” CNX has 7.9 trillion cubic feet equivalent (Tcfe) in proved reserves as of Dec. 31, 2018. Range Resources has 18.1 Tcfe in proved reserves.
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