EIA reports U.S. natural gas reserves up for 2003, while crude reserves down

Petroleum News

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration reported Sept. 22 that U.S. proved reserves of natural gas increased for the third year in a row last year.

The agency’s “Advance Summary: U.S. Crude Oil, Natural Gas, and Natural Gas Liquids Reserves 2003 Annual Report,” shows U.S. natural gas reserves up 1 percent in 2003, but U.S. crude oil proved reserves down 3 percent.

The increase in natural gas reserves, the majority from extensions of existing conventional and unconventional gas fields, was the fifth time in five years gas reserves have increased, with 111 percent of gas production replaced. Gas production remained almost level in 2003 as declines in the Gulf of Mexico and New Mexico were offset by production increases in the Rocky Mountain states and Texas.

The 3 percent decline in crude oil reserves was the first decline in five years, as operators replaced only 58 percent of oil production with reserves additions. There were significant new field discoveries in the Gulf of Mexico federal offshore, the agency said, but “proved reserves in several fields were lowered substantially because of poor well performance accompanied by engineering reassessments.” U.S. crude oil production remained almost level in 2003.

There were large gas reserves additions in 2003 in the Rocky Mountain states and Texas, “driven by continuing development of unconventional fields” — tight sands, gas shales and coalbed methane. There were significant coalbed methane reserves additions in the Powder River basin and deep and tight sand additions in the Green River basin, both in Wyoming. In Colorado and New Mexico, tight sand reserves were added in the Wattenberg field and coalbed methane in the San Juan basin, and significant reserves were also added in the Barnett shale of Texas’ Newark East field, the nation’s sixth largest natural gas field.

Coalbed methane reserves increased 1 percent from 2002 and accounted for 10 percent of U.S. dry proved reserves, although coalbed methane production declined very slightly in 2003, less than 1 percent, and accounted for 8 percent of 2003 U.S. dry gas production.

The report is available on the EIA site at: http://www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/fwd/adsum2003.html.