Accelerated depletion could strongly affect U.S. gas market
✍ Scribed by Lockhart, James E.
- Book ID
- 102844852
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 2007
- Weight
- 955 KB
- Volume
- 17
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0743-5665
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
R follows reports that suggest future production may be more difficult than previously thought. Several reports have highlighted the sharp change in the decline rate for wells on the continental shelf in the Gulf of Mexico. While production from offshore natural gas wells drilled in 1972 declined from their peak at an average rate of 17 percent a year, natural gas wells drilled in 1996 have been declining at an annual rate of 49 percent. At the same time, the ratio of natural gas production to the level of proved reserves-resources that have been identified and are ready to be developed-has increased from 15.7 percent in 1991-1992 to 18.0 percent in 1997-1998.
... future production may be more difficult than previously thought.
In response to interest in the increased decline rate and higher production to reserve ratio, the Office of Fossil Energy requested the Energy Information Administration (EIA) to conduct a study. This study, Accelerated Depletion: Assessing Its Impact on Domestic Oil and Natural Gas Prices and Production, was completed in July 2000. This study developed a set of accelerated depletion assumptions, based on recent trends and concerns raised by industry. Under these accelerated depletion assumptions, smaller discoveries are projected to result in less production and higher prices than those projected in the reference case, which used the