Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Reserve growth during financial volatility in a technologically challenging world

July 22, 2010

Reserve growth (growth-to-known) is the addition of oil and gas quantities to reported proved or proved-plus-probable reserves in discovered fields. The amount of reserve growth fluctuates through time with prevailing economic and technological conditions. Most reserve additions are the result of investment in field operations and in development technology. These investments can be justified by higher prices of oil and gas, the desire to maintain cash flow, and by greater recovery efficiency in well established fields. The price/cost ratio affects decisions for field abandonment and (or) implementation of improved recovery methods. Although small- to medium-size fields might show higher percentages of reserve growth, a relatively few giant fields contribute most volumetric reserve growth, indicating that companies may prefer to invest in existing fields with low geologic and production risk and an established infrastructure in order to increase their price/cost relationship. Whereas many previous estimates of reserve growth were based on past trends of reported reserves, future reserve growth is expected to be greatly affected by financial volatility and fluctuating economic and technological conditions.

Publication Year 2010
Title Reserve growth during financial volatility in a technologically challenging world
DOI 10.3133/ofr20101145
Authors Timothy R. Klett, Donald L. Gautier
Publication Type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Series Title Open-File Report
Series Number 2010-1145
Index ID ofr20101145
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse
USGS Organization Central Energy Resources Science Center