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oil 1-2

15.12.2002

World oil resources (at the end of 2001)

country known reserves extraction
in billion barrels
(000 million)
%age of world reserves in 000
barrels daily
%age world extraction (rank) %age of country's reserves in 2001 years before reserves exausted
The World 1050.0 100.0% 74,493 100% 2.59% 39 years
Saudi Arabia 261.8 24.9% 8,768 11.77% (1) 1.22% 82 years
Iraq 112.5 10.7% 2,414 3.24% (11) 0.78% 128 years
Kuwait 96.5 9.2% 2,142 2.88% (12) 0.81% 123 years
Iran 87.9 8.5% 3,688 4.95% (4) 

1.53%

65 years
United Arab Emirates 97.8 9.3% 2,422 3.25% (10)

0.90%

111 years
Russian Federation 48.6 4.6% 7,056 9.47% (3)  5.30% 19 years
Venuzuela 77.7 7.4% 3,418 4.59% (6)  1.61% 62 years
China 24.0 2.3% 3,308 4.44% (8)  5.03% 19.9 yrs   
Libya 29.5 2.8% 1,425 1.91% (15) 1.76% 56.8 yrs   
Mexico 26.9 2.6% 3,560 4.78% (5)  4.83% 20.7 yrs   
Nigeria 24.0 2.3% 2,148 2.88% (13) 3.27% 30.6 yrs   
USA 30.4 2.9% 7,717 10.36% (2) 9.27% 10.8 yrs   
Norway 9.4 0.9% 3,414 4.58% (7)  13.3% 7.5 years
Algeria 9.2 0.9% 1563 2.01% (14) 6.2% 16.1 yrs   
UK 4.9 0.5% 2,503 3.49% (9)   18.6% 5.4 years
Data source: world oil reserves and oil-based fuel development

Notes:

  1. Known reserves do not equate with actual reserves; a figure which is, of course, unknown. However, the general informed belief is that we know the considerable majority of accessible reserves.

  2. As supply contracts, or demand increases, prices will rise. This is a feedback system. Thus, you will see that the current world draw-down (rate of extraction/consumption) simply means that, without further sources, in 40 years there will be no more oil. If shortages increase, the price of oil will rise, which will result in exploitation of more expensive source, or the reduction of consumption. Be aware that several billion peole do not yet have cars and would rather like to have one .... or two or three. This situation can well be called ‘unsustainable’.

  3. That a country is currently drawing down its resources at a particular rate, does not mean that it will continue so to do. However, s teaches us that the human tendency is to rapaciously use resources until they are exausted, without concern for the future.

related material
The Prestige: Latest reports (Jan. 2003)
The Prestige debacle, part 2 (Nov. & Dec.2002)
The politics of irresponsibility (Jan 2003)
The politics of irresponsibility (Nov & Dec 2002)
Another potential ecological oil mess (Nov. 2002)

World oil reserves and oil-based fuel development
Oil technical information and data

 

the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/archive-oil1-2.htm#oi151202

 


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Technical information arising from the Prestige oil spill

Heavy fuel oil
Major oil spills
Oil spills off Spanish coast

Heavy fuel oil, also known as residual fuel oil, the residue from refining, is too viscous for beach cleanup with industrial vacuum cleaners. Buckets, spades and gloved hands, as well as protective suits and face masks, are the tools required. This stuff is seriously filthy muck, the worst possible kind of oil spill. It is concentrated, sticky and contains very few volatiles, these having been recovered for use as motor and other fuels. Heavy fuel oil is destined as fuel in power stations or industrial heating. It is both hard to burn in the open and does not evaporate easily.

Although most spills listed in the table below are of marine origin, significant spills of land origin have also been included.
Major oil spills - the biggest spills                 Oil spill quantities can only be estimates.
Incident Date Location and incident details

’000 metric tonnes spilt

million barrels million US gallons Oil type
Saddam Hussein 1991
January

invasion of Kuwait:
Persian Gulf

834 – 1,500 6 - 10.8 250 – 458 crude
A further estimated 67 million tonnes of crude oil was spilt and burnt on land
Lakewater Gusher N°1 1910, March - 1911, Sept. Maricopa, Ca.:
well casing blew under very high pressure
1,250 9M, of which 4M was saved 375 crude
Ixtoc I 1979
14 Dec.
Gulf of Mexico
exploratory well blowout
463 3.3 140 crude
Saddam Hussein 1983 Iraq-Iran War:
Persian Gulf
280 – 500

2-3.6

83 – 150 crude
Atlantic Empress / Aegean Captain collision 1979
19 July - 2 Aug.
West Indies: Trinidad & Tobago / Barbados combined total: 287 2.1 87 crude
Castillo de Bellver 1983
6 Aug.
South Africa: off Cape Town
(tanker caught fire and split in two)
252 1.8 75.6 light crude
Amoco Cadiz 1978
16 March
France: Brittany coast (Portsall)
200 km of coastline affected
223 1.6 66.9 light crude
Haven 1991
11 Apr.
Italy: Genoa 144 1 43.2  
Odyssey 1988
10 Nov.
Canada: 700 nm off Newfoundland 132 0.95 39.6  
Torrey Canyon 1967
18 March
United Kingdom: Cornwall coast 119 0.86 35.7 crude
Sea Star 1972
19 Dec.
Oman: Gulf of Oman 115 0.83 35.3 crude
Hawaiian Patriot 1977
25 Feb.
North Pacific 103 0.74 30.9 not known
Urquiola 1976 Spain: La Coruna, Galicia 100 0.72 30  
land pipeline 1994

Usink, Komi Republic (West Siberia)
polluting the Pechora River basin

100+ 0.72+ 30 not known
Braer 1993 S.E. Shetland coast 87 0.63 26.3 light Gulfax crude oil & fuel/diesel oil
Prestige 2002
13 Dec.
North Spain: Gallician coast 77 0.59 23.1 residual fuel oil
(cargo. amount spilt so far listed here.)
Sea Empress 1996 Pembrokeshire coast, S.W. Wales 72 0.52 21.7 North Sea crude oil
Smaller spills mentioned in article
Aegean Sea 1992
3 Dec.
North Spain: La Coruna, Galicia 74 0.53 22.2 not known
Exxon Valdez 1989
24 March
USA: Prince William
Sound , Alaska
37

0.27

11.1 light crude
Erika 1999
13 Dec.
France: west Brittany coast 10 0.07 3 residual fuel oil

A longer, but less comprehensive, list of oil spills is available from Alertnet.org .

 

Oil spills off Spanish coast                    Oil spill quantities can only be estimates.
Incident Date Location and incident details

’000 metric tonnes spilt

million barrels million US gallons Oil type
Prestige 2002
13 Nov.

Gallician coast, west of La Coruna.

77 0.55 23.1 residual fuel oil
Leaking tanker towed along coast, then broke and sunk 350 km (220 miles) west of Cape Finisterre. (above amount is the listed cargo.
amount spilt so far listed here.
)
Aegean Sea 1992
3 Dec.
harbour port,
La Coruna, Galicia (double-hulled)
74 0.53

22.2

 

not known
Andros Patria 1978, 31 Dec. Cape Villano, Galicia
(90 km west of La Coruna)
49 0.35 14.6 not known
Urquiola 1976
12 May
harbour port,
La Coruna, Galicia
100 0.72 30 not known

 

related material
The Prestige: Latest reports (Jan. 2003)
The Prestige debacle, part 2 (Nov. & Dec.2002)
The politics of irresponsibility (Jan 2003)
The politics of irresponsibility (Nov & Dec 2002)
Another potential ecological oil mess (Nov. 2002)

World oil reserves and oil-based fuel development
World oil resources

the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/archive-oil1-2.htm#oil091202-2

data upgraded 18.01.2003

related material

World oil resources

The Prestige: Latest reports (Jan. 2003)

The politics of irresponsibility (Jan 2003)

The politics of irresponsibility (Nov & Dec 2002)

The Prestige debacle, part 2 (Nov. & Dec.2002)

Another potential ecological oil mess (Nov. 2002)

World oil reserves and oil-based fuel development

 

an interesting analysis on the replacement of fossil fuels two GoldenYak (tm) award
with particular reference to the feasibility of substitution by photo-voltaic cells and bio-mass. With some calculations. There are, of course, several other routes to the production of power, such as coal and nuclear power, with forecasts of several hundred years supply.

Also a link to the alleged chicanery in the fuel industry

(Leads provided by D Lavigne.)

related material
World oil reserves and oil-based fuel development

 

[There are two very different technologies for solar roof panels: one which first collects the sun’s heat and the other which collects light. With the first technology, used to heat water, generally the hot water is run through radiators for space heating (the heated water could also be used to generate electricity); while the light-collecting technology converts light directly into electricity.

Remember, almost all power systems originate from sunlight. The major exception is nuclear power.]

the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/archive-oil1-2.htm#oi1211102

21.11.2002

 

related material
World oil reserves and oil-based fuel development

 

another potential ecological oil mess two GoldenYak[tm] award
An oil tanker, the Prestige, carrying a cargo of some 77,000 metric tons of fuel oil is in trouble off an environmentally sensitive section of the Spanish coast, and it has spilled an undetermined amount of oil into the sea, currently estimated to be between three and five thousand tonnes [16.11.02].

Be warned that every time there is an incident like this, various conflicting figures will be quoted, caused by wild guesses and general innumeracy. Nor can you fully rely upon reports because of exaggeration by reporters or environmentalists attempting to hype a story, and by oil companies, ship owners etc, attempting to minimise the situation. Always consider the source of information, and attempt to obtain a full a range of information sources as possible.

There have been many larger spills than the potential of this incident.

However, this is a major incident for recent times. The number and the seriousness of spills has been steadily reducing, with a large improvement occurring after 1970.

There is much data here, but the page downloads very slowly an ordinary connection because of poor html.one GoldenYak [tm] award

Largest oil spills in millions of gallons (2011)
The very largest spills have been thanks to the benefactor of Baghdad, in both 1983 and 1991; and to a Mexican oil-well blow-out (about 140 million US gallons).

Some photos of major oil spills. This photo linked shows one of the largest spills, which are eclipsed only by the deliberate release of oil, from many different sources, during the 1991 Gulf War (estimated at 250 million US gallons), and by an incident during the Iran-Iraq fracas in 1983 (about 150 million US gallons). one GoldenYak [tm] award

what can be done? how large is the planetary spillage problem? two GoldenYak[tm] award
Some basic information.

This site looks like it has some useful links, but I have not checked out the links.

“The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says a single [US] pint of oil can cover an acre of the water’s surface.”
Thus if the complete load from the tanker off Spain was shed, it could cover a maximum of 184,000,000 acres. This is about three times the land area of the UK.
So far, 3000 tonnes have been reported spilled. This quantity of oil is covering an area of 120 square miles—that would be about 100 pints per acre (quick check only!)

1 imperial gallon 8 (imperial) pints 4. 546 litres  

1 US gallon

8 (US) pints 3.785 litres  
1 US gallon 0.83 imperial gallons 1 imperial gallon 1.2 US gallons
Oil is often quoted in barrels and is also usually quoted in US dollars on the international market
1 barrel 0.139 tonnes  34.86 imperial gallons 42 US gallons

In many other countries than the USA, crude oil is measured in metric tonnes even though, on the fact of it, the tonne is a weight rather than volume measuement. Thus, the volume of oil is dependent on the density of the oil. The denser the oil, the heavier it is; thus it takes up a smaller volume in comparison to a lighter oil.

  metric tonnes US barrels US gallons imperial gallons litres
1 (metric) tonne 1 7.2 302 251 1,136
1 million US barrels 138,889 1,000,000 42,000,000 34,861,139 158,970,000
1 million US gallons 3,311 24,000 1,000,000 830,000 3,785,000
1 million imperial gallons 3,984 28,685 1,200,000 1,000,000 4,546,000
1 million litres 881 6,290 264,172 219,969 1,000,000

1 hectare 2.47 acres 0.01 square kilometre 0.004 square mile
1 acre 0.405 hectare 0.004 square kilometre 0.0016 square mile
1 square kilometre 0.385 square mile 100 hectares 247 acres
1 square mile 2.6 square kilometres 260 hectares 640 acres
1 nautical mile 1.1508 statute miles 1 statute mile 0.8684 nautical miles
1 kilometre (km) 0.625 (statute) miles 1(statute) mile 1.6 km
The definitions above do not strive for ‘absolute’ precision..

related material
The Prestige: Latest reports (Jan. 2003)
The Prestige debacle, part 2 (Nov. & Dec.2002)
The politics of irresponsibility (Jan 2003)
The politics of irresponsibility (Nov & Dec 2002)
Another potential ecological oil mess (Nov. 2002)

World oil reserves and oil-based fuel development
World oil resources
Oil technical information and data

the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/archive-oil1-2.htm#oi1151102

15.11.2002

 

related material

The Prestige: Latest reports (Jan. 2003)

The politics of irresponsibility (Jan 2003)

The politics of irresponsibility (Nov & Dec 2002)

The Prestige debacle, part 2 (Nov. & Dec.2002)

Another potential ecological oil mess (Nov. 2002)

World oil reserves and oil-based fuel development

World oil resources

Oil technical information and data


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