Critical Role of Heavy Oil Resources in Energy Supplies:

Philip Stark¹, Kenneth Chew², Robert Fryklund³, and Andrew Hayman^4
1IHS Energy, Denver, CO
²IHS, Perthshire, United Kingdom
³IHS, Houston, TX
⁴IHS, Geneva, Switzerland

As one of the three pillars of oil resources, heavy oil/bitumen could provide substantial, secure future oil supplies for many regions of the world. While the huge resources in Canada and Venezuela (estimated 575 Bbo recoverable) attract headlines, some 450 Bbo of heavy oil resource have been identified in other parts of the world. The IHS database identifies 2,411 known fields with estimated 120 Bbo of remaining recoverable heavy and extra heavy oil reserves. E&P companies are attracted to such resources because they have low exploration risk, material production volumes and long-lasting production at stable production rates. In addition, current recovery factors are low so these accumulations have the potential for a substantial “technology dividend”.
Heavy oil is an important resource in the circum-Mediterranean region where some 341 known fields with estimated 7,745 MMbo ultimate recovery already have produced almost 5,000 MMbo. The 136 undeveloped heavy oil discoveries in the region provide opportunities to boost future oil supplies. Syria, Romania, Italy and Egypt have the largest identified remaining recoverable heavy oil reserves. Egypt, Italy, Syria and Turkey have the largest number of undeveloped heavy oil fields.
The paper will discuss the current status of global and regional heavy oil play development, production and resources with emphasis on undeveloped future potential in the circum-Mediterranean region.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90072 © 2007 AAPG and AAPG European Region Conference, Athens, Greece