Resources of small oil and gas fields

Conference · Sun Apr 01 04:00:00 EST 1984 · Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol., Bull.; (United States)

OSTI ID:6376898

Meyer, R F

In presently known small oil fields, a remaining recoverable reserve of about 3100 million bbl appears evident. As much as 2000 million bbl remain in place in abandoned small fields, of which at least 500 million eventually may be recovered through redevelopment or, in a few cases, mining. Reserves of oil in stripper wells amount to about 5200 million bbl. Research on only 2 basins, Gulf Coast and Permian, indicates that, should a high rate of drilling activity persist into the future, at least 10,000 million bbl more in small fields could be anticipated in the US. This suggests that a total of at least 19,000 million bbl of oil in small fields remains to be recovered in the future in the US. Gas from presently-known small oil fields should account for more than 17 tcf, nearly all nonassociated. In addition, at least 67 tcf of gas and nearly 2000 million bbl of condensate will come from small, nonassociated gas fields. It is not known how much gas, as compared with oil, will be found in small fields as a result of future exploration. The amount will be substantial. An enormous exploration effort will be required to yield this petroleum. The aggregate return is substantial, but because it is from a collection of small fields, it will not be possible to optimize exploitation in the same way as for a similar amount of petroleum from a few large fields. Neither will it be possible to achieve comparable production capacities. In both the US and the rest of the world, given the required drilling effort, small fields will be found far into the future. They probably will not be able to offset the eventual decline of the world's large fields but will sustain a viable industry well into the 21st century.

• Research Organization: Geological Survey, Reston, VA
• OSTI ID: 6376898
• Report Number(s): CONF-8405216-
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol., Bull.; (United States) Journal Volume: 68:4
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020200* -- Petroleum-- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
03 NATURAL GAS
030200 -- Natural Gas-- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
CONDENSATES
ENERGY SOURCES
ENHANCED RECOVERY
EXPLORATION
FLUIDS
FOSSIL FUELS
FUEL GAS
FUELS
GAS CONDENSATES
GAS FUELS
GASES
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GULF COAST
LIQUIDS
MINERAL RESOURCES
NATURAL GAS
NATURAL GAS DEPOSITS
NATURAL GAS FIELDS
NATURAL GAS LIQUIDS
NORTH AMERICA
OIL FIELDS
PERMIAN BASIN
PETROLEUM
PETROLEUM DEPOSITS
PRODUCTION
RECOVERY
RESOURCE ASSESSMENT
RESOURCES
USA