UAE has 8.3% of world’s oil, 3.3% of gas reserves

Arab oil reserves have swelled by more than 34 billion barrels over the past nine years while gas deposits jumped by over 17 trillion cubic metres despite high production by regional states, according to official data.

The UAE emerged as one of the largest hydrocarbon powers in the world, controlling nearly 8.3 per cent of the recoverable global oil resources and around 3.3 per cent of the world’s gas wealth, showed the figures by the 10-nation Organisation of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (Oapec).

From around 646.8 billion barrels at the end of 2000, the combined Arab extractable oil reserves grew to about 681 billion barrels at the end of 2009, an increase of nearly 34.2 billion barrels, the Kuwaiti-based group said in a study. Most regional nations recorded increases in their proven oil resources despite massive cumulative output, which was estimated at around 65 billion barrels.

Despite the surge in reserves, the share of the Arab oil resources to the world’s total crude deposits dropped from around 61.3 per cent in 2000 to nearly 57.8 per cent at the end of 2009, said OAPEC, a key Arab League institution.

It attributed the decline to a sharp rise in proven global oil reserves to around 1,178 billion barrels from 1,055 billion barrels mainly due to the increase in Canada’s oil sand deposits and new discoveries in other countries.

The report showed that at the end of 2009, Saudi Arabia controlled around 22.4 per cent of the world’s oil deposits while Iraq accounted for 9.8 per cent, Kuwait for nearly 8.6 per cent and the UAE for 8.3 per cent.

Saudi Arabia also controlled nearly 38.8 per cent of the total Arab oil reserves while Iraq accounted for 16.9 per cent, Kuwait for 14.9 per cent and the UAE for 14.4 per cent. This means the four Gulf states controlled nearly 85 per cent of the Arab world’s total proven crude resources at the end of 2009.

The study showed gas reserves in the Arab world jumped by around 17.2 trillion cubic metres to a record 54.1 trillion cubic metres at the end of 2009 from around 36.9 trillion cubic metres at the end of 2000.

The increase boosted the Arab share of the world’s proven gas resources to around 28.9 per cent at the end of last year from 24.4 per cent in 2000.

A breakdown showed Qatar was the main gas power in the region, controlling nearly 13.6 per cent of the world’s total gas deposits and 47 per cent of the combined Arab gas wealth. Qatar’s gas deposits are concentrated in its gigantic offshore North Field, the largest single reservoir of non-associated gas in the world, with an estimated 25 trillion cubic metres.

Saudi Arabia had the second largest gas deposits in the Arab world at the end of 2009, with around four per cent of the world’s gas wealth and 13.8 per cent of the Arab gas reserves. It was followed by the UAE, which controlled nearly 3.3 per cent of the world’s gas and 11.3 per cent of the gas deposits in the Arab region.

OAPEC estimated the cumulative Arab oil production at a staggering 302 billion barrels since regional nations began pumping crude over 50 years ago. It said the Arab oil deposits in place could be far higher than assumed.

“Assuming an extraction rate of 35 per cent, the Arab oil deposits in place could reach 2,738 billion barrels. This means the oil quantities that can not be extracted by present technology are around 1,809 billion barrels, which are nearly 645 billion barrels above the world’s proven oil resources….these quantities, if they can be extracted, will meet the world needs for 60 years …even if only 10 per cent of them could be extracted, they could be enough for seven years.”

The report showed four Gulf countries—UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq—controlled around 50 per cent of  the world’s recoverable oil potential and more than 86 per cent of the actual Arab crude reserves.

But it noted large quantities of oil and gas remained undiscovered or undeveloped in the region, totaling around 175 billion barrels of oil, 43,368 billion cubic metres of natural gas and 67 billion barrels of gas liquids.

In the UAE, the undiscovered hydrocarbon reserves were put at around 7.7 billion barrels of crude oil, 1,261 billion cubic metres of natural gas and 2.4 billion of gas liquids. They were estimated at 87.1 billion barrels of oil in Saudi Arabia, 18,158 billion cubic metres of gas and 48.9 billion barrels of gas liquidity.

In Kuwait, undiscovered reserves were estimated at about 3.8 billion barrels of crude, 194 billion cubic metres of gas and around 0.2 billion barrels of gas liquids. In Iraq, they were put at 54.1 billion barrels of oil, 9,000 billion cubic metres of gas and around 6.2 billion barrels of gas liquids.

The figures also showed the UAE’s oil and gas resources accounted for 14.6 and 11.3 per cent of the total Arab oil and gas deposits while Saudi Arabia, the world’s dominant oil power, controlled 39.3 and 13.6 per cent respectively. Qatar controlled 46.9 per cent of the Arab gas reserves.

The report showed the increase in oil reserves over the past few years was a result of new discoveries in some member states, development of major fields and introduction of advanced technology.

Most of the increase was achieved in Sudan, where they jumped from less than one billion barrels to five billion barrels. The rest came from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Libya, which boosted them by around two billion barrels each.

Gas reserves grew by around 1.7 trillion cubic metres and the bulk of the increase was achieved in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, the report said.

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