Oil Ministry Revises Up its Estimate of Proven Oil Reserves to 143.1 Billion Barrels from 115 Billion Barrels Before

摘要

Producing countries sometimes tend to overestimate their hydrocarbon reserves for various reasons of a strategic nature. In the case of Iraq, which possesses huge oil potential, official reserve estimates probably understate the reality. That, in any event, has been the view for several years of various specialist sources, including AOG. In early October the Iraqi Oil Minister, Mr. Hussein al-Shahristani, confirmed that assessment by announcing that the official estimate of the country's proven oil reserves had been revised up by 24% to 143.1 billion barrels from 115 billion barrels before [or rather from 110 billion barrels taking account of the depletion rate, according to the Minister, so the increase is actually 30%].