"As much as 98% of registered oil and gas deposits are now being developed," Vladimir Litvinenko, rector of St. Petersburg State Mining Institute, said. Litvinenko said a federal program should be launched for geological prospecting of deposits, with involvement from the state and the private sector.
 "The state, which levies the so-called 'flat' mineral resource tax, must allocate funds for the recovery of resources, create means for the funds to be used in new areas, and determine the terms for access to new sites," he said.

Unfortunately, as we have noted before, it is not just a lack of immediately known reserves that is limiting the possibilities of future supply.  An article in the Sunday Times points out that the majors are now paying for more exploration, and paying more for it.  

Seismic surveys, which cost about $2m a time, are designed to detect the kind of geological structures where oil might be found, such as rock formations whose outline resembles an upturned teacup.

Owners of offshore drilling platforms, such as Rowan, which offers the Gorilla and Tarzan rigs, are also among the first to profit during an oil-industry upturn. The most sophisticated deep-water drilling rigs cost up to $500,000 a day to hire, compared with $150,000 two years ago. With the world fleet of such rigs numbering less than 100, demand far outstrips supply. . . . . . . The going rate for hiring a floating rig is $250,000 a day. Two years ago it was $50,000 a day

Last year, only 200 petrochemical engineers graduated from American universities compared with thousands in the industry's 1970s heyday. Britain produced 88 from three or four universities.

Most of this information is not new to these pages, but I gave the quotes since some of the numbers have changed. It also indicates that those who expect a sudden increase in production to lower pricesmay expect to be disappointed.