Phillips replaces 135 percent of production; Conoco boosts reserves

Phillips says its Lower 48 discoveries cost $5.08 per barrel, $5.15 in Alaska and $6.80 for non-U.S. reserves; pumped more oil in Alaska than added to its reserves

Allen Baker

PNA Contributing Writer

Phillips Petroleum Co. replaced 135 percent of its 2001 oil and gas production with proved reserves of 433 million barrels of oil equivalent, the company announced.

Future partner Conoco did even better, but that was mostly due to the acquisition of Gulf Canada. Conoco’s reserves rose by 1.2 billion equivalent barrels, 432 percent of what the company produced during the year.

Factoring out Gulf Canada and other purchases and sales, the replacement figure was a more modest 113 percent of 2001 production of 281 million BOE. Conoco’s year-end proved reserves were 3.58 billion barrels of oil equivalent, including Canadian syncrude. Of that, 85 percent was outside the United States.

New oil finding cost up in 2001

Phillips pumped more oil in Alaska than it added to its reserves. The company says it replaced 99 percent of its reserves in the United States, but 128 percent of production in the Lower 48.

New reserves in Alaska cost a bit more as well.

Alaska discoveries cost $5.15 per barrel

Worldwide, Phillips increased proved reserves 2.3 percent to 5.3 billion barrels of oil equivalent, while producing 321 million BOE. With no more discoveries, the proved reserves would last 16 years.

Drilling success was up in 2001, Phillips reported.

“Overall, we completed 42 exploration and appraisal wells with a success rate of 62 percent, up from 45 percent in 2000 and 38 percent in 1999,” said Dodd DeCamp, senior vice president of worldwide exploration.

This year, Phillips is concentrating its efforts in deepwater off Angola, the Caspian Sea, Alaska, and the Atlantic Margin of northwestern Europe, he said.

BP replaces 191% of production; Forest Oil 259%

Allen Baker

• BP replaced 191 percent of production, booking 2.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent through extensions, discoveries, revisions and improved recovery. It was the eighth straight year replacement exceeded production.

• ExxonMobil added 1.8 billion barrels of oil equivalent to its reserves, replacing 110 percent of production. The company has more than 13 years worth of reserves at current production rates, with 21.6 billion barrels of reserves.

• ChevronTexaco added 1.2 billion barrels to its reserves in 2001, or 120 percent of production. The additions came principally in the international arena.

• Anadarko replaced 221 percent of its production. Excluding sales and acquisitions, the figure was 173 percent. Proved reserves stood at 2.3 billion BOE at the end of the year, split equally between gas and liquids. Worldwide finding costs were $8.53 per barrel.

• Unocal replaced 222 percent of production, boosting its reserves 15 percent to 1.8 billion barrels of oil equivalent. Finding and development costs were $5.39 per barrel. Discoveries, extensions and improved recovery added 241 million barrels of reserves, more than the 2001 production of 193 million barrels.

• Petro-Canada pushed proved reserves up 2 percent to 821 million barrels of oil equivalent, replacing 103 percent of its natural gas production with exploration and development work at a cost of $1.52 (Canadian) of 94 cents U.S. per thousand cubic feet of gas equivalent.

• Forest Oil replaced 259 percent of production, ending the year with 828 billion cubic feet of natural gas reserves and 120 million barrels of liquids, all in North America.