The Oil Drum

36 comments on Gas fields also deplete, but faster

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Heading Out on November 19, 2005 - 3:27pm

At present the Canadians have enough gas for their own use and are exporting it to us. We use around 22 TCF, and import around 4 TCf, 80% of which comes from Canada. (Source EIA) Gas provides just under a quarter of our primary energy supply.

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BioDiesel on November 19, 2005 - 6:16pm

Ok, but the question still remains

Say Canada used x amount of Nat gas. Does this take into account the gas that is extracted out of the ground with oil, separated, and then used to power the equipment to get the next batch of gas/oil?

Or is this only the amount that is bought and sold on the market?

This might be a huge problem in countries that have both large amounts of gas and oil. They must decide how much gas they need to extract oil. And it would be a big problem if a country underestimated how much gas they need for their population and their oil production. For this I see many countries holding out their Nat gas reserves just is case.

It seems the only countries that can be relied on for large amount of LNG exports, are countries that have smaller amounts of oil, Qatar, Algeria, Austrailia....

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PhilRelig on November 20, 2005 - 3:05pm

These basic numbers are very helpful for those, such as myself, who are well acquainted with the basic numbers for oil, but not for natural gas; thanks. Here are some other basic-numbers questions, with a view to getting up to speed on the overall US and world situation in regard to gas:

What is world-annual usage of natural gas?
What is world proven-reserves of natural gas?
How many cf of gas in a barrel of oil, in terms of energy equivalent?
What are reasonable expectations regarding gas yet to be discovered, both in the US and the world?

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Rick on November 21, 2005 - 4:29pm

The BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2005 is a great starting point for statistics on any energy source. Free downloads available at:

http://www.bp.com/genericsection.do?categoryId=92&contentId=7005893

The NG situation doesn't lend itself to quick analysis. There is lots of gas, but much of it is "stranded," located far away from major consumers. According to BP, the Reserve/Production ratio (R/P) in 2004 was 66.7 years for NG, versus 40.5 years. There may be, in theory, 66 years' supply, but there is also a possibility of cold homes in North America and UK this winter due to localized shortages.

Consumption trends are not encouraging. Per BP:

"World natural gas consumption grew by 3.3% in 2004, compared with a 10-year average of 2.3%. Consumption in the USA, the world's largest market, stagnated in the face of high prices and industrial restructuring Outside the USA, gas consumption rose by 4%, with the largest gains in Russia, China and the Middle East.
Gas production rose in every region except North America, where US output continued to decline. In Europe, growth in the Netherlands, Russia and Norway more than offset the ongoing decline of UK output."