Definitions Reserve

Short Course on
Petroleum Reserve Estimation, Production, and

Production Sharing Contract (PSC)
29-30 April, 2008
Directorate of Continuing Education
and
Petroleum & Mineral Resources Engineering Department, BUET
Definitions of Reserves and Resources
M. Moinul Huq
Definitions of Reserves
Resources:
Resources are the total quantities of oil and gas and related
substances that are estimated, at a particular time, to be contained
in, or that have been produced from, known accumulations, plus
those estimated quantities in accumulations are yet to be
discovered.
DISCOVERED RESERVES:
Discovered Resource: Discovered resources, which may also be
referred to as initial volumes in place, are those quantities of oil and
gas and related substances that are estimated, at a particular time,
to be initially contained in known accumulations and those that will
remain in known accumulations, based on known technology under
specified economic conditions that are generally accepted as being
a reasonable outlook for the future.
Initial Reserve: Initial reserves are those quantities of oil and gas
and related substances that are estimated, at a particular time, to be
recoverable from known accumulations. They include cumulative
production plus those quantities that are estimated to be recoverable
in the future by known technology under specified economic
conditions that are generally accepted as being a reasonable
outlook for the future.
Unrecoverable Volumes: Unrecoverable Volumes are those
quantities of oil and gas and related substances that are estimated,
at a particular time, to remain in known accumulations because they
are not recoverable by known technology under specified economic
conditions that are generally accepted as being a reasonable
outlook for the future. Unrecoverable volumes may be further
divided into currently uneconomic volumes and residual uneconomic
volumes.
UNDISCOVERED RESOURES or FUTURE INITIAL VOLUMES in

PLACE
Undiscovered Resource: Undiscovered Resource, which may also

be referred to as Future Initial Volumes in place, are those in-place
quantities of oil and gas and related substances that are estimated
at particular time, to exist in accumulations yet to be discovered.
Future Initial Reserve: Future Initial Reserve are those quantities of

oil and gas and related substances that are estimated, at a particular
time, to be recoverable from accumulations yet to be discovered by
known technology under specified economic that are generally
accepted as being a reasonable outlook for the future.
Future Unrecoverable Volumes: Future Unrecoverable
Volumes are those quantities of oil and gas and related
substances that are estimated, at a particular time, to
remain in accumulations yet to be discovered because
they are not recoverable by known technology under
specified economic conditions that are generally
accepted as being a reasonable outlook for the future.
REMAINING RESERVE
Remaining reserves are estimated quantities of oil and natural gas

and related substances anticipated to be recoverable from known
accumulations, from a given date forward, by known technology
under specified economic conditions that are generally accepted as
being a reasonable outlook for the future.
Remaining Proved reserve: Remaining Proved reserve are those
remaining reserves that can be estimated with a high degree of
certainty, which for the purpose of reserve classification means that
there id generally an 80 percent or greater probability that at least
estimated quantity will be recovered. This reserve may be divided
into proved developed and proved undeveloped to identify the
status of development. The proved developed may be further
divided into producing and non-producing categories.
Proven Reserve: Proven reserve are those quantities of
petroleum which, by analysis of geological and
engineering data, can be estimated with reasonable
certainty to be commercially recoverable, from a given
date forward, from known reservoirs and under current,
economic conditions, operating methods, and
government regulations. Proved reserves can be
categorized as developed or undeveloped.
If deterministic methods are used, then the term reasonable

certainty is intended to express a high degree of confidence that the
quantities will be recovered. If probabilistic methods are used, there
should be at least a 90% probability that the quantities actually
recovered will equal or exceed the estimate.
The parameter that often has the greatest variability in the reserve
estimation is the area chosen to represent the areal extent of the
pool.
In North America in case of an isolated gas well with little or no
geological control, it is frequent practice to assign reserve to one
section (640 acre, 1 sq. mile).
For single oil well, the area assigned would generally be less for
than for gas well because the flow characteristics for oil result in
smaller drainage area. A typical practice is to assign proved reserve
to area ranging from 1/4th section for light crude oil to 1/16th section
or less for heavy crude oils.
In general, reserves are considered proved if the commercial

Producibility of the reservoir is supported by actual production or
formation tests. In this context, the term proved refers to the actual
quantities of petroleum reserves and not just the productivity of the
well or reservoir. In certain cases, proved reserves may be assigned
on the basis of well logs and/or core analysis that indicate the
subject reservoir is hydrocarbon bearing and is analogous to
reservoirs in the same area that are producing or have
demonstrated the ability to produce on formation tests.
The area of the reservoir considered as proved includes (1) the area
delineated by drilling and defined by fluid contacts, if any. (2) The
un-drilled portions of the reservoir that can reasonably be judged as
commercially productive on the basis of available geological and
engineering data.
In the absence of data on fluid contacts, the lowest known occurrence
of hydrocarbons controls the proved limit unless otherwise indicated
by definitive geological, engineering or performance data.
Seminar on Application of UNFC for Energy Resources. OPEC Secretariat. 2003
Probable Reserves: Probable reserves are those
unproved reserves which by analysis of geological and
engineering data suggests are more likely than not to be
recoverable. In this context, when probabilistic methods
are used, there should be at least a 50% probability that
the quantities actually recovered will be equal or exceed
the sum of estimated proven plus probable reserves.
In general, probable reserves may include
(1) reserves anticipated to be proved by normal step-out drilling
when sub-surface control is inadequate to classify these
reserves as proved.
(2) (2) reserves in formations that appear to be productive based
on well log characteristics but lack core data or definitive tests
and which are not analogous to producing or proved reservoirs
in the area,
(3) incremental reserves attributable to infill drilling that could have
been classified as proved if closer statutory spacing had been
approved at the time of the estimation.
(4) Reserves attributed to improved recovery methods that have
been established by repeated commercially successful applications.
(5) Reserves in an area of the formation that appears to be separated
from the proved area by faulting and the geologic interpretation
indicates the subject area Is structurally higher than the proved area.
(6) Reserves attributable to a future work-over, treatment, re-treatment,
change of equipment, or other mechanical procedure, where such
procedure has not been proved successful in wells which exhibit
similar behavior in analogous reservoirs.
(7) Incremental reserves in proven reservoirs when an alternative
interpretation of performance or volumetric data indicates more
reserves than can be classified as proved.
Possible Reserve: Possible reserves are those
unproved reserves which analysis of geological and
engineering data suggests are less likely to be
recoverable than probable reserves. In this context,
when probabilistic methods are used, there should be at
least a 10% probability that the quantities actually
recovered will equal or exceed the sum of the estimated
proved plus probable plus possible reserves.
In general, possible reserve may include (1) reserves which,

based on geological interpretations, could possibly exist
beyond areas classified as probable, (2) reserves in formations
that appear to be petroleum bearing based on log and core
analysis but may not be productive at commercial rates, (3)
incremental reserves attributed to infill drilling that are subject
to technical uncertainty, (4) reserves attributed to improved
recovery methods when (a) a project or pilot is planned but not
in operation and (b) rock, fluid and reservoir characteristics are
such that a reasonable doubt exists that the project will be
commercial, and (5) reserves in an area of the formation that
appears to be separated from the proved area by faulting and
geological interpretation indicates the subject area is
structurally lower than the proved are.

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Short Course on

Petroleum Reserve Estimation, Production, and

UNDISCOVERED RESOURES or FUTURE INITIAL VOLUMES in

Undiscovered Resource: Undiscovered Resource, which may also

Future Initial Reserve: Future Initial Reserve are those quantities of

Remaining reserves are estimated quantities of oil and natural gas

If deterministic methods are used, then the term reasonable

In general, reserves are considered proved if the commercial

Seminar on Application of UNFC for Energy Resources. OPEC Secretariat. 2003

In general, possible reserve may include (1) reserves which,

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