Sunday, April 27, 2014

BGR's Latest Estimates of Global Fossil Fuel Resources and Reserves, as of January 1, 2013

The BGR, a Hannover-based German government institute, is renowned for their annual reports of global non-renewable energy resources (fossil fuels and nuclear energy sources). (BGR = Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe; or Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources)
When I wrote about the fossil fuel resources/reserves last year, the BGR's report was using old information for non-conventional natural gas and oil resources. So I used the US EIA's latest estimates for natural gas and crude oil. I quoted the BGR's data only for coal resources at that time.
Now that this year's BGR report updated the natural gas and oil numbers utilizing the US EIA's new data, I am introducing here the BGR's estimates for the reserves and resources of all fossil fuels. (The US EIA's coal numbers are too old, now.)
I prepared two tables below. The first table is summarized according to unique units of each fossil fuel. The second table is according to the same thermal equivalents. In a nutshell, at the beginning of 2013, the world had approximately 73 years' supply of fossil fuels that could be exploitable with contemporary technologies.

(According to the BGR's glossaries,
Reserves = Proven volumes of energy commodities economically exploitable at today’s prices and using today’s technology;
Resources =  Proven amounts of energy resources which cannot currently be exploited for technical and/or economic reasons, as well as unproven but geologically possible energy resources which may be exploitable in future)

Table 1. Reserves & Resources in Fuel-specific Units (as of January 1, 2013)
FuelUnitReserves2012
Production
R/P
(years)
ResourcesRemaining Potential
Coal TotalGtce           762        16,195         16,957
Hard CoalGtce             6506.83595          14,506           15,156
LigniteGtce             1111.106100             1,689              1,800
Oil TotalGtoe           2174.13752               429                646
billion bbl         1,592                 30            3,154             4,745
Conventional Crude OilGt             169                161                 330
Non-Conventional Oil TotalGtoe                48                268                 316
Oil SandGt               27                  63                   89
Extra Heavy OilGt               21                  61                   82
Shale OilGt                  47                   47
Oil ShaleGt –                   97                   97
Gas TotalTcm           1963.38958               837            1,033
Tcf         6,928              120         29,558          36,486
Conventional Natural GasTcm             191                310                 501
Non-Conventional Gas TotalTcm               5.5                527                 533
Shale GasTcm              3.7                205                 209
Tight GasTcm –                   63                   63
Coal Bed MethaneTcm              1.8                  50                   52
Aquifer GasTcm –                   24                   24
Gas HydratesTcm –                 184                 184
Fossil Fuels TotalEJ    38,826534.473     524,378      563,204
Gtoe92812.812,53313,461

Table 2. Reserves & Resources in EJ/Gtoe (as of January 1, 2013)

FuelUnitReserves2012
Production
R/P
(years)
ResourcesRemaining Potential
Coal TotalEJ    22,320232.796     474,655      496,975
Gtoe5335.611,34411,878
Hard CoalEJ       19,061200.395       425,155        444,216
LigniteEJ         3,25932.4101          49,500           52,759
Oil TotalEJ       9,052172.952        17,923         26,975
Gtoe            2164.1                428                 645
Conventional Crude OilEJ         7,050             6,732           13,782
Non-Conventional Oil TotalEJ         2,002          11,191           13,193
Oil SandEJ         1,115            2,613             3,728
Extra Heavy OilEJ            886            2,541             3,427
Shale OilEJ –             1,969             1,969
Oil ShaleEJ –             4,068             4,068
Gas TotalEJ       7,455128.858        31,800         39,255
Gtoe            1783.1                760                 938
Conventional Natural GasEJ         7,244          11,779           19,023
Non-Conventional Gas TotalEJ             211          20,021           20,232
Shale GasEJ            142            7,804             7,946
Tight GasEJ –             2,397             2,397
Coal Bed MethaneEJ               69            1,916             1,985
Aquifer GasEJ –                 912                 912
Gas HydratesEJ –             6,992             6,992
Fossil Fuels TotalEJ    38,826534.473     524,378      563,204
Gtoe92812.812,53313,461
Notes:
hard coal = bituminous coal + anthracite
R/P  = Reserves-to-production ratio
Gtce = billion tonnes of coal equivalent (= 1000 million tonnes of coal equivalent (Mtce))
Gtoe = billion tonnes of oil equivalent (= 1000 million tonnes of oil equivalent (Mtoe))
bbl  = barrels (1 toe = 7.35 bbl)
Tcm  = trillion cubic meters (1 Tcm = 35.315 Tcf)
Tcf  = trillion cubic feet 
EJ   = exajoules, or quintillion joules (1018 J)

Conversion factors:
1 EJ  = 23.9 Mtoe
1 toe = 1.428 tce = 1101 m3 (cubic meters) of natural gas

Source:
BGR. (2013). Energy Study 2013: Reserves, Resources and Availability of Energy Resources. Hannover, Germany: Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe. [Full-text at http://j.mp/BGR_2013]

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