EIA: 2017 oil company additions to proved reserves at highest level since 2013
A group of 83 of the world’s largest publicly traded oil and natural gas producers added more hydrocarbons to their resource base in 2017 than in any year since 2013, according to the companies’ annual reports, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said recently.
Together, the companies added a net 8.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) to their proved reserves, which totaled 277 billion BOE at the end of 2017.
Exploration and development (E&D) spending in 2017 rose 11 percent from 2016 levels but were 47 percent lower than 2013 levels.
Of the 83 companies, 18 held more than 80 percent of the 277 billion BOE in proved reserves at the end of the year.
Slightly less than half of the 17.7 billion BOE in organic proved reserves added in 2017 were in the United States. 24 percent were in Russia Central Asia and the Asia-Pacific region. Latin America, the Middle East and Africa regions, and Canada, which includes oil sands and synthetic crude oil, each added more than 1.1 billion BOE. Regionally, Europe had the fewest organically added proved reserves, adding 0.3 billion BOE.
Global E&D spending, which reached $285 billion on E&D in 2017, showed similar distribution. 33 percent was in the United States. Russia, Central Asia, and Asia-Pacific region accounted for 30 percent. All other regions each accounting for 10 percent or less.
The United States increased its nominal year-over-year E&D spending by 36 percent. Canada and the Russia, Central Asia, and Asia-Pacific region did so by 15 percent each. Spending decreased by 24 percent in Europe, 16 percent in the Middle East and Africa and 15 percent in Latin America.
On an annual basis, E&D capital expenditures per additional BOE to proved reserves in 2017 were $16.12/BOE, the lowest level during the 2012–2017 period.
In first-quarter 2018, capital expenditures for the 83 companies were 16 percent higher than in first-quarter 2017. This suggests that many of the companies increased their E&D budgets, which will likely result in further organic proved reserves additions in 2018, EIA said.
