World oil reserves can be estimated based on various indicators. However, today they are determined by the amount of extracted raw materials, which allows to obtain at the moment the current level of development of technologies and equipment.
In Russia there is a classification for the reserves of minerals such as oil, gas, condensate and the components contained in them that are of industrial importance. This was established by order No. 126 of 07/02/2001 of the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation, and on 01/01/2012 a new classification came into force, approved in 2005 by order No. 298.
Crude oil is classified as follows:
- Stocks
- reliable;
- established;
- rated;
- prospective.
2. Resources
- localized
- promising;
- predictive.
Oil reserves in the world imply international classification standards SPE-PRMS. This is the most common option, which allows you to take into account not only the probability of finding it in the fields, but also the economic efficiency of production. All stocks are divided into 3 classes:
- proven with a 90% probability of recovery;
- the probability of which is 50%;
- possible deposits are about 10%.
In order to harmonize national classifications, summarize best practices, the UN developed and proposed to classify the world's extracted resources and oil reserves according to a universal system based on fundamental criteria: the economic and social viability of the project, its status and validity for field development, geological exploration, and also the use of numeric codes. The combination of three criteria creates a three-dimensional system.
In the United States, crude oil is classified according to the following criteria: according to the SEC or the securities market, according to SPE - the Society of Petroleum Engineers, AAPG - the Association of Petroleum Geologists, etc. In connection with this, they distinguish:
- Proved reserves or reserves, which are characterized by the probability of extraction per year from 90 to 95%.
- Unproven.
- Strategic oil reserves located in 4 natural storage facilities.
Many countries are creating this stock for economic gain. About 4 billion are in holdings, of which 1.4 billion are under state control.
Referring to experience, the expected oil reserves in the world in open fields are much less than they can actually be extracted. Various factors influence this, for example, the growth of technology allows extracting raw materials from closed deposits, which was impossible to do with outdated methods.
World oil reserves need to be saved through IT technology and new transport. According to statistics, the price of gasoline at gas stations over the past 10 years has increased 7 times. The reason for this is that global oil production has declined significantly.
According to the Energy Information Administration of America, global reserves are about 1300 billion barrels. In the Middle East, it contains more than half (750 billion barrels), in Africa - 120 billion, in Eurasia - 100 billion, Asia and Oceania has about 4 billion barrels, in the EU it is practically absent. Significant reserves of Arctic oil exist - approximately 90 billion barrels, 22% of which are unproven world reserves.
World oil production, according to the honored geologist K. Defface, since the middle of the XIX century amounted to 1 trillion of 2.3 trillion barrels. It was the most easily accessible and high-quality oil, and the remaining reserves are considered to be of poor quality. Solid or semi-solid substances related to them, the production of which will soon be inappropriate, are considered unpromising due to the complexity of production and processing. This leads to the fact that cheaper oil will no longer be produced.
The life support of mankind depends on oil, because without it industry, agriculture, production, financial markets, and transport cannot exist. It is necessary to develop technologies that reduce oil consumption in the production of goods, abandon its consumption for the generation of thermal energy, and create a set of measures to increase transport efficiency. We need saving and switching to alternative energy sources, and this is the only right way for humanity.