Volume of World Petroleum Reserves
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| Bibliographic Entry | Result (w/surrounding text) |
Standardized Result |
|---|---|---|
| Energy Information Administration. Oil Supply: US Perspective on a Global Market [pdf]. Petroleum 1996: Issues & Trends. US Department of Energy: September 1997: 11. Original Source: DeGolyer & MacNaughton. "Estimates of Petroleum Reserves in Principle Producing Countries and Crude Oil Production in 1994." Twentieth Century Petroleum Statistics. Dallas, TX (1995): 1. | "Based on country by country estimates of crude oil reserves and production compiled from multiple sources by DeGolyer and MacNaughton, the world's reserves of crude oil were 1,114.7 billion barrels." | 1.77 × 1011 m3 |
| More in the Pipeline. What on Earth. Washington Post. 1996. data from American Petroleum Institute; Oil & Gas Journal, December 1995. | "Total World Reserves, 1.007 trillion barrels" | 1.60 × 1011 m3 |
| Energy Information Administration. Table 8.1 World Crude Oil and Natural Gas Reserves, January 1, 1999. International Energy Annual, 1998. | "Crude Oil, World (Billions of Barrels) 967.5" | 1.54 × 1011 m3 |
| "Table 4. Estimates of Worldwide Cumulative Production, Identified Reserves, and Undiscovered Technically Recoverable Resources of Conventional Crude Oil."Data from Resource Constraints in Petroleum Production Potential, 12 July 1991: 147. | "Identified Reserves 1/1/93 (billion barrels) 922.1 Mean Undiscovered Resources (billion barrels) 547" | 1.47 × 1011 m3 0.87 × 1011 m3 |
| Smoot, David Alan. Remaining World Oil Reserves. data from 1994 Energy Statistics Yearbook. UN Statistics Division. | "Reserves (bbl), Global, 985" | 1.57 × 1011 m3 |
| McKinney, Michael L. & Robert M. Schooch. "World Oil Reserves and Production." Environmental Science. Jones & Bartlett, 1998: 182. | "Known Reserves, World, 922.1 billion barrels" | 1.47 × 1011 m3 |
Petroleum is an oil used to power many things such as cars. Crude (unrefined) oil must be refined in order to be useful. Although the assignment is to find "the"volume of the world's petroleum reserves, there is no exact number because new reserves are constantly being discovered.
The United States Geological Survey's (USGS) World Energy Resources Program (WERP) produces the federal government's estimates of world oil resources. The volume of the world's petroleum reserves is important because of the fear that the oil will run out. This fear should be expected, because the estimated 1 trillion barrels of crude oil is only enough to supply the world for about 50 years. This prediction is based on the present world consumption, however, world consumption is expected to increase. Although the known reserves are only about a trillion barrels (1 barrel equals 159 liters, 42 gallons, or 0.16 m3), the estimated world reserves, according are about 1.5 × 1011 m3.
The Middle East has about 50% of the world's oil reserves, whereas the United States only has about 2%. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) includes the following countries: Algeria, Nigeria, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela. This organization decides on the production of oil for its members, which decide the price of oil for the countries who buy oil from this organization.
Evan Abel -- 2000