Oil reserves in the United States#Prospective resources

Over 1 million exploratory and developmental crude oil wells have been drilled in the US since 1949 to estimate the undiscovered, technically recoverable oil in the United States.

{{cite web |year=2006 |title=Crude Oil and Natural Gas Exploratory and Development Wells, Selected Years, 1949-2005 |url=http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/aer/pdf/pages/sec4_11.pdf |access-date=2007-11-11 |publisher=Energy Information Administration}}

The last comprehensive National Assessment was completed in 1995. Since 2000 the USGS has been re-assessing basins of the U.S. that are considered to be priorities for oil and gas resources; re-assessing 22, and has plans to re-assess 10 more basins. These 32 basins represent about 97% of the discovered and undiscovered oil and gas resources of the United States. The three areas considered to hold the most oil are the coastal plain (1002) area of ANWR, the National Petroleum Reserve of Alaska, and the Bakken Formation.

File:US Crude Oil Production and Imports.svg

In 1970, the supergiant Prudhoe Bay Oil Field was discovered in Alaska.[http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/cfapps/STEO_Query/steotables.cfm?periodType=Annual&startYear=2005&startMonth=1&endYear=2009&endMonth=12&tableNumber=9 "U.S. Petroleum Supply and Consumption 2005–2009"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100416112553/http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/cfapps/STEO_Query/steotables.cfm?periodType=Annual&startYear=2005&startMonth=1&endYear=2009&endMonth=12&tableNumber=9 |date=2010-04-16 }}, July 8, 2008. U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

File:Top 5 US Oil States.svg

File:Proved Reserves - Production.png

{{Main|Reserves-to-production ratio}}

The reserves-to-production ratio (R/P) was 11.08 years in 1970. It hit a trough of 8.49 years in 1986 as oil pumped through the Alaska pipeline began to peak. R/P was 11.26 years in 2007.

In 1970, local peak production was {{convert|10044|e6oilbbl|e6m3|0|abbr=unit|lk=on}} per day in November 1970.[http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=MCRFPUS2&f=M U.S. Field Production of Crude Oil] Total production of crude oil from 1970 through 2006 was {{convert|102|Goilbbl}}, or roughly five and a half times the proved reserves over the same timeframe when taking into account the decreasing proved reserves.{{cite web

| title = Crude Oil Production

| publisher = Energy Information Administration (EIA)

| date = 2008-07-23

| url = http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/pet_crd_crpdn_adc_mbbl_a.htm

| access-date = 2007-11-11

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110314092534/http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/pet_crd_crpdn_adc_mbbl_a.htm

| archive-date = 2011-03-14

| url-status = dead

}}

When global oil prices (approximately US$147.50) peaked in summer 2008 many petroleum oil extraction projects were brought online, allowing annual production to steadily increase, with one year of decline in 2020 attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2012 the oil production of the US increased by 800,000 barrels per day, the highest ever recorded increase in one year since oil drilling began in 1859.{{cite news| url=http://www.eenews.net/stories/1059974510/print | work=E&E | title=Shale oil output anchors a record growth in U.S. production | date=2016-01-18}} In April 2013, US crude production was at a more than 20-year high, aided by the shale gas and tight oil boom; with production near 7.2 million barrels per day.{{Cite web |last=Amadeo |first=Kimberly |title=Behind the US Shale Oil Boom and Bust |url=https://www.thebalance.com/us-shale-oil-boom-and-bust-3305553 |access-date=2019-07-04 |website=The Balance |language=en}} In 2018, the US became the world's top crude oil producer, and has maintained that position ever since.{{cite web|url=https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/oil-and-petroleum-products/where-our-oil-comes-from.php#:~:text=The%20United%20States%20became%20the,States%20and%20in%20other%20countries.|title=Oil and petroleum products explained|publisher=EIA|date=21 September 2023}} In November 2019, peak production was {{convert|13000|e6oilbbl|e6m3|0|abbr=unit|lk=on}} per day.

Consuming less or importing more oil prolongs the useful life of existing oil reserves.

Between 1970 and 2007, due to declining production and increasing demand, net US imports of oil and petroleum products increased from {{convert|3.16|Moilbbl/d}} in 1970 to {{convert|12.04|Moilbbl/d}} in 2007, before declining as domestic production ramped up.

In 2007 the largest net suppliers of petroleum products to the US were Canada and Mexico, which supplied {{convert|2.2|and|1.3|Moilbbl/d|abbr=on}}.

In 2011, the US consumed 18.8 million barrels of petroleum products per day, and imported a net 8.4 million barrels per day; the EIA reported the United States "Dependence on Net Petroleum Imports" in 2011 as 45% accounting for nearly 50% of the US trade deficit in 2011.

{{cite web

| title = Petroleum Basic Statistics

| publisher = Energy Information Administration

|year= 2007

| url = http://www.eia.doe.gov/basics/quickoil.html

| access-date = 2008-08-17}}

For a brief period during 2008{{En dash}}2009 the US became a net exporter of refined oil products.

{{Main|Strategic Petroleum Reserve (United States)}}

The United States maintains a Strategic Petroleum Reserve at four sites on the Gulf of Mexico, with a total capacity of {{convert|727|Moilbbl}} of crude oil. The maximum total withdrawal capability from the United States Strategic Petroleum Reserve is {{convert|4.4|Moilbbl|m3}} per day. This is roughly 32% of US oil imports, or 75% of imports from OPEC.

Image:758Syms2006OCSMapWithPlanni.png

Image:Total oil mean 08 0001.png

File:McKelvey Box.jpg illustrating different classes of petroleum resources.]]

File:Map-of-countries-by-proven-oil-reserves-(in-millions-of-barrels)---2017---US-EIA---Jo-Di-graphics.jpg according to U.S. EIA, 2017]]

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) under the Department of the Interior estimates undiscovered technically recoverable crude oil onshore in United States to be {{convert|48.5|Goilbbl}}

{{cite web

| last = U.S. Department of the Interior

| first = (USGS)

| title = Comprehensive Resource Summary: Conventional, Continuous, Coal-bed Gas

| publisher = United States Geological Survey

|year= 2007

| url = http://certmapper.cr.usgs.gov/data/noga00/natl/tabular/2007/summary_07.pdf

| access-date = 2008-08-16}}

{{cite web

| last = U.S. Department of the Interior

| first = (USGS)

| title = Comprehensive Resource Summary: Conventional, Continuous, Coal-bed Gas

| publisher = United States Geological Survey

|date=April 10, 2008

| url = http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=1911

| access-date = 2008-04-10}}

In 1998, the USGS estimated that the 1002 area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge contains a total of between 5.7 and {{convert|16.0|Goilbbl|m3}} of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil, with a mean estimate of {{convert|10.4|Goilbbl|m3}}, of which {{convert|7.7|Goilbbl|m3}} falls within the Federal portion of the ANWR 1002 Area.

{{cite web |last=United States Geological Survey |first=(USGS) |date=April 1998 |title=Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, 1002 Area, Petroleum Assessment, 1998, Including Economic Analysis |url=http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/fs-0028-01 |access-date=2008-08-12 |publisher=United States Geological Survey}}

In May 2008 the EIA used this assessment to estimate the potential cumulative production of the 1002 area of ANWR to be a maximum of {{convert|4.3|Goilbbl|m3}} from 2018 to 2030. This estimate is a best case scenario of technically recoverable oil during the area's primary production years if legislation were passed in 2008 to allow drilling.

{{cite web |date=May 2008 |title=Analysis of Crude Oil Production in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge |url=http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/servicerpt/anwr/pdf/sroiaf(2008)03.pdf |access-date=2008-06-27 |publisher=Energy Information Administration}}

A 2002 assessment concluded that the National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska contains between 6.7 and {{convert|15.0|Goilbbl|m3}} of oil, with a mean (expected) value of {{convert|10.6|Goilbbl|m3}}. The quantity of undiscovered oil beneath Federal lands (excluding State and Native areas) is estimated to range between 5.9 and 13.2 BBO, with a mean value of 9.3 BBO. Most oil accumulations are expected to be of moderate size, on the order of 30 to {{convert|250|Moilbbl|m3}} each. Large accumulations like the Prudhoe Bay oil field (whose ultimate recovery is approximately {{convert|13|Goilbbl|m3}}), are not expected to occur. The volumes of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil estimated for NPRA are similar to the volumes estimated for ANWR. However, because of differences in accumulation sizes (the ANWR study area is estimated to contain more accumulations in larger size classes) and differences in assessment area (the NPRA study area is more than 12 times larger than the ANWR study area), economically recoverable resources are different at low oil prices. But at market prices above $40 per barrel, estimates of economically recoverable oil for NPRA are similar to ANWR.

{{cite web |last=United States Geological Survey |first=(USGS) |year=2002 |title=U.S. Geological Survey 2002 Petroleum Resource Assessment of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPRA) |url=http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2002/fs045-02 |access-date=2008-08-12 |publisher=United States Geological Survey}}

In April 2008, the USGS released a report giving a new resource assessment of the Bakken Formation underlying portions of Montana and North Dakota. The USGS believes that with new horizontal drilling technology there is somewhere between {{convert|3.0|and|4.5|Goilbbl}} of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil in this {{convert|200000|sqmi|km2}} formation that was initially discovered in 1951. If accurate, this reassessment would make it the largest "continuous" oil accumulation (The USGS uses "continuous" to describe accumulations requiring extensive artificial fracturing to allow the oil to flow to the borehole) ever discovered in the U.S. The formation is estimated to contain significantly more—figures in excess of {{convert|150|Goilbbl|m3}} have been reported—but it is yet uncertain how much of this oil is recoverable using current technology. In 2011, Harold Hamm claimed that the recoverable share may reach {{convert|24|Goilbbl|m3}}; this would mean that Bakken contains more extractable petroleum than all other known oil fields in the country, combined.{{cite web |title=N.D. study estimates 167 billion barrels of oil in Bakken |url=http://bismarcktribune.com/news/state-and-regional/n-d-study-estimates-billion-barrels-of-oil-in-bakken/article_71ddd831-683a-50d4-a259-a6cb70c47ef6.html}}{{cite web |title=CEO: 24 Billion Barrels of Oil in Bakken Shale |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2011/08/24/ceo-24-billion-barrels-of-oil-in-bakken-shale.html |website=CNBC}}

The Minerals Management Service (MMS) estimates the Federal Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) contains between {{convert|66.6|and|115.1|Goilbbl}} of undiscovered technically recoverable crude oil, with a mean estimate of {{convert|85.9|Goilbbl}}. The Gulf of Mexico OCS ranks first with a mean estimate of {{convert|44.9|Goilbbl}}, followed by Alaska OCS with {{convert|38.8|Goilbbl}}. At $80/bbl crude prices, the MMS estimates that {{convert|70|Goilbbl}} are economically recoverable. As of 2008, a total of about {{convert|574|e6acre|km2}} of the OCS are off-limits to leasing and development. The moratoria and presidential withdrawal cover about 85 percent of OCS area offshore the lower 48 states. The MMS estimates that the resources in OCS areas currently off limits to leasing and development total {{convert|17.8|Goilbbl}}(mean estimate).

{{cite web

|last = U.S. Department of the Interior

|first = (MMS)

|title = Assessment of Undiscovered Technically Recoverable Oil and Gas Resources of the Nation's Outer Continental Shelf, 2006

|publisher = Minerals Management Service

|year = 2006

|url = http://www.mms.gov/revaldiv/PDFs/2006NationalAssessmentBrochure.pdf

|access-date = 2008-08-16

|url-status = dead

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080912205005/http://www.mms.gov/revaldiv/PDFs/2006NationalAssessmentBrochure.pdf

|archive-date = 2008-09-12

}}

{{Main|Oil shale reserves}}

{{main|History of the oil shale industry in the United States}}

The United States has the largest known deposits of oil shale in the world, according to the Bureau of Land Management and holds an estimated {{convert|2.175|Toilbbl|km3}} of potentially recoverable oil.{{cite web

| title = Geology and Resources of Some World Oil-Shale Deposits

| work = Scientific Investigations Report 2005–5294

| author = John R. Dyni

| publisher = US Geological Survey

| year=2005

| url = http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2005/5294/pdf/sir5294_508.pdf

| access-date = 2008-08-11}} Oil shale does not actually contain oil, but a waxy oil precursor known as kerogen. There is significant commercial production of oil from oil shale in the United States in North Dakota and Montana.

Oil-bearing shales in North Dakota and Montana are producing increasing amounts of oil. As of April 2013, US crude production was at a more than 20-year high, since the shale gas and tight oil boom; production was near 7.2 million barrels per day.

{{Main|Utah oil sands}}

There are significant volumes of heavy oil in the oil sands of northeast Utah. There has yet to be any significant production from these deposits.

{{Portal|Energy}}

• Oil reserves
• Strategic Petroleum Reserve (United States)
• United States Oil Fund (USO)

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{{Oil reserves country articles}}

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Category:Fossil fuels in the United States

Category:Geology of the United States

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