[Goldfisch]

Degoyler &MacNaughton Oil Analysts See Siberian Oil Reserves at 200Bln Barrels
Created: 28.09.2004 15:00 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 15:00 MSK, 21 minutes ago

Western Siberia, the heartland of the Russian oil industry, has the capacity to produce 10 million barrels of oil a day for “50 years and more”, Canadian geological consultants Degoyler & MacNaughton, quoted by Dow Jones said on Tuesday, September 28. Martin Wiewiorowski, senior vice president of Degoyler & MacNaughton and General Director of the company’s Moscow office was speaking at the investment conference in Moscow, which is organized by Brunswick UBS brokerage house.

Wiewiorowski told the conference participants that his company has raised its estimates of the total recoverable reserves in West Siberia to 200 billion barrels up from the previously estimated 100 billion barrels. The consultant also said that modern extraction technology could allow around 45 percent of all West Siberian oil reserves to be recovered. That is four times more than the amount that oil companies are sometimes able to declare to investors under the regulations of the U.S. Securities and Exchanges Commission, he said.

The representative of Degoyler & MacNaughton hedged his remarks however by saying that the mentioned increase in production through enhanced technology could be delayed significantly by bureaucratic processes, notably the approval of internationally-used equipment for use in Russia. He added that constraints of pipeline capacity may also limit production growth. Wiewiorowski also predicted that oil companies will face long-term upward pressure on operating costs and capital expenditures in West Siberia. Currently these figures stand around $1.50 to $2 a barrel and $3 a barrel respectively.

Quelle: MosNews