"Recoverable reserves" refers to the amount of natural resources, such as oil or gas, that can be extracted using existing technology and economic conditions. It represents the portion of reserves that can be confidently extracted and put to use.
Full definition
If you did that, I guarantee you that you would not see a 22 % difference between Canadian natural bitumen and Venezuelan extra heavy oil, and you'd be adding a strong incentive to reduce emissions for 434 billion barrels of
recoverable reserves of extra heavy oil.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Wyoming has three times as much
recoverable reserves at producing mines as West Virginia and about twice as much as West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio combined.
However, given that the United States holds the world's largest
estimated recoverable reserves of coal, coal - burning power plants will continue to be a major source of our nation's electricity generation for the foreseeable future.
«
Total recoverable reserves of coal around the world are estimated at 1,001 billion tons — enough to last approximately 180 years at current consumption levels»
Natural gas data is sourced from BP Statistical Review 2016 (data from end - 2015) and BGR, 2015, Energy study: reserves, resources and availability of energy resources (data from end - 2014), and includes per selected countries production in billion cubic metres per year (bcm), proved
recoverable reserves in bcm and consumption in bcm per year.
That projected shortfall is very, very small (less than one percent) when compared to the 3,500,000 tonnes of «
known recoverable reserves» shown in Table 1.
Instead of the current estimate of
recoverable reserves for Wyoming, these projections use the estimates of coal resources in the Powder River Basin recently published by the US Geological Survey (Luupens et al. 2008), calculated to be recoverable at a cost of $ 20, $ 30 and $ 40 per short ton (30.8, 54.0 and 61.1 billion tonnes, respectively).
The aim of this study was to develop a model to predict fossil fuel production for the long term based on historical production data, projected demand, and assumed
ultimately recoverable reserves for coal, gas and oil.
The Gulf's outer continental shelf is estimated to
hold recoverable reserves of more than 48 billion barrels of oil and 141 trillion cubic feet of gas.
If we don't retain some fossil energy in
readily recoverable reserves, then we'll have to find a decent way to store some excess solar energy along the way.
The estimated
recoverable reserves include the coal in the demonstrated reserve base (see below) considered recoverable after excluding coal estimated to be unavailable due to land use restrictions or currently economically unattractive for mining, and after applying assumed mining recovery rates.
Undiscovered recoverable reserves (crude oil and natural gas): Those economic resources of crude oil and natural gas, yet undiscovered, that are estimated to exist in favorable geologic settings.
2,384 tcf in
technically recoverable reserves, including 2,226 tcf from conventional sources, tight sands and carbonates and shales, plus 158 tcf in coalbed reserves.
Current estimates of
recoverable reserves indicate a worldwide reserve - to - production (R / P) ratio of 143 years (table 4), a level clearly capable of sustaining at least modest growth for half a century.
But by 2007,
stated recoverable reserves of surface - mineable coal in Wyoming were only 15.2 billion tonnes, yielding a R / P ratio of only 37.
The chart shows
total recoverable reserves of finite energy resources (i.e., coal, natural gas, petroleum, and uranium), but it only shows annual energy potential for renewable resources.
Based on U.S. coal production in 2016 of about 0.73 billion short tons, the recoverable coal reserves would last about 348 years, and
recoverable reserves at producing mines would last about 23 years.
«The Deepwater Horizon disaster has also focused attention on the oil sands» 170 - billion [barrels] of
economically recoverable reserves,» said Peter Buchanan and Meny Grauman.
Reports suggest that this area could hold «
recoverable reserves» of upwards of 48 billion barrels of oil and 141 trillion cubic feet of gas.
The U.S. Department of Energy estimates as much as 75 percent of
recoverable reserves may be left after producers capture hydrocarbons that naturally rise to the surface or are pumped out mechanically, followed by a secondary recovery process using water or gas injection.
Knisely even concluded that the fossil fuel industry might need to leave 80 percent of
its recoverable reserves in the ground to avoid doubling CO2 concentrations, a notion now known as the carbon budget.
Ok, your valuation for prospective reserves is fine, but the reason people are invested here is because there is strong evidence to suggest that this are real, commercial,
recoverable reserves.
But before doing so, pay attention to this very important note: solar energy potential and energy potential shown for the other renewable energy resources is annual potential, while the energy potential shown for the fossil fuel resources is total
recoverable reserves.
Estimated
Recoverable Reserves (coal): An estimate of coal reserves, based on a demonstrated reserve base, adjusted for assumed accessibility and recovery factors, and does not include any specific economic feasibility criteria.
Recoverable Coal Reserves at Producing Mines, Estimated
Recoverable Reserves, and Demonstrated Reserve Base by Mining Method
In 2016,
the recoverable reserves at producing mines were 17.0 billion short tons.
The U. S. Geological Survey estimates that the coastal plain contains over ten billion barrels of economically
recoverable reserves.
The first is that
recoverable reserves of coal are plentiful, unlike those of petroleum liquids or natural gas.