THE NON-TECHNICAL RESOURCES PETROLEUM RESOURCE MANAGEMENT CLASSIFICATION Key Terms:

are quantities of petroleum estimated, as of a SYSTEM 1P : used to denote proved reserves

GUIDE TO UNDERSTANDING given date, to be potentially recoverable from

known accumulations, but the projects are not 2P : the sum of proved and probable
HOW THE PETROLEUM yet considered mature enough for commercial The PRMS (Petroleum Resource Management Classification
development due to one or more contingencies reserves

INDUSTRY ASSESSES AND System) is designed to provide a framework for the 3P: the sum of proved, probable and
QUANTIFIES OIL AND GAS classification of oil and gas volumes which a company may possible reserves
RESERVES have associated with its portfolio of assets. It is not specific Production:is the quantity of oil and natural
to any particular geographic location and can be applied to gas that has been recovered already (by a
both conventional and unconventional reserves and specified date).This is primarily output from
operations that has already been produced
for use by consumers.

Categorised based primarily on uncertainty of Contingent Resources: those quantities of

petroleum which are estimated, on a given
sales quantities associated with a project date, to be potentially recoverable from
known accumulations, but which are not
currently considered to be commercially
recoverable

1C/2C/3C : degree of certainty.

Production Unrecoverable:

The portion of discovered or undiscovered

POSSIBLE petroleum-initially-in-place quantities not
PROVED PROBABLE

Commercial
currently considered to be recoverable.

Chance of development
RESERVES
Petroleum which are anticipated to be commercially recovered 3P Total Petroleum-initially-in-place: the
1P 2P

Total Petroleum Initially In Place (PIIP)

known accumulations from a given date forward. The SPE says
petroleum quantities must fit four criteria to be classified as
quantity of petroleum which is estimated to

Increasing chance of commerciality

reserves. They must be (1) discovered through one or more exist originally in naturally occurring
exploratory wells, (2) recoverable using existing technology, (3) Reserves accumulations. Total Petroleum-initially-in-

Discovered PIIP
commercially viable, and finally (4) remaining in the ground.
place is, therefore, that quantity of
petroleum which is estimated, on a given
WHAT EXACTLY 1C 2C 3C

Sub-Commercial
date, to be contained in known
accumulations, plus those quantities already
ARE RESERVES/ Contingent Resources produced therefrom, plus those estimated

Chance of discovery
quantities in accumulations yet to be
RESOURCES Unrecoverable discovered.

Prospective
AND HOW ARE Low
Best
High
Undiscovered Petroleum-initially-in-place is
Undiscovered PIIP
Estimate Estimate Estimate
that quantity of petroleum which is
THEY estimated, on a given date, to be contained
Prospective in accumulations yet to be discovered. The
CLASSIFIED? estimated potentially recoverable portion of
Undiscovered Petroleum-initially-in-place is
Unrecoverable classified as Prospective Resources

 Quantifying Oil and Gas

Deterministic Estimation How exactly can you calculate oil and gas
The estimation of reserves is considered to be
deterministic when a single best estimate of reserves?
reserves is made based on geological data

Probabilistic Estimation (i) Volumetric Estimation

A full range of values are used

for each input parameter into the reserve

(ii) Performance Estimation

calculation. Reserve estimates can be

For simplicity only Volumetric Estimation will be explained in detail.

extracted from a Monte Carlo type of

analysis at the various confidence levels VOLUMETRIC ESTIMATION

P90,P50, P10, etc. This method pertains
mainly to volumetric evaluations prior to
Volumetric estimation is also known as the geologists method as
it is based on cores, analysis of wireline logs, and geological
maps.Knowledge of the depositional environment, the structural
complexities,the trapping mechanism, and any fluid interaction is
required to:

Estimate the volume of subsurface rock

that contains hydrocarbons. The volume is calculated from the

thickness of the rock containing oil or gas and the areal extent of
Proved (1P) : 90% probability of meeting
the accumulation.

or exceeding the estimated proved

volume (P90).
Determine a weighted average eective porosity

HOW MANY METHODS CAN BE Proved plus probable (2P): 50% Obtain a reasonable water resistivity value and calculate water
USED ESTIMATE RESERVES? probability of meeting or exceeding the saturation.

sum of the estimated proved plus

There are TWO main methods that can probable volume (P50).
With these reservoir rock properties and utilising the hydrocarbon
be used to estimate reserves:
Proved plus probable plus possible
fluid properties,original oil-in-place or original gas-in-place volumes
(3P): 10%probability of meeting or
(i) Deterministic can be calculated.
exceeding the sum of the estimated
(ii) Probabilistic proved plus probable plus possible
volume (P10).
 HOW DO YOU CALCULATE YOUR Step 4: Calculating Volume
ORIGINAL OIL IN PLACE (OOIP) ? Where A is the Cross-sectional area

h is the net thickness or height of formation

Where Ro is the resistivity of the 100% water-saturated rock

Volume = Area x Height
Rw is the resistivity of the formation water

Ro and Rw can be found using resistivity logs

Step 1 : Calculating formation resistivity factor

Where F is the formation resistivity factor

a is a constant

m is the cementation factor

Step 2 : Calculating water saturation (Sw) Step 5: Calculating the formation volume factor Bo
rho is porosity

The Neutron, Density and Sonic Logs can be used to find

the porosity of the formation
Oil formation volume factor is defined as the
ratio of the volume of oil at reservoir (in-situ)
conditions to that at stock tank (surface)
Porosity is a measure of how much of a rock is open space. conditions. This factor, is used to convert the
Where Rt is the true resistivity which can be found flow rate of oil (at stock tank conditions) to
using induction and laterlogs and n is the saturation
component

Step 3: Calculating hydrocarbon saturation (So)

where So is the hydrocarbon saturation

 Sample Problem:
HOW DO YOU CALCULATE YOUR
"Short Course on Petroleum Reserve Estimation,
REPEAT STEPS 1 to 4 for calculating Original Oil in Place
for Original Gas In Place (OGIP)
Step 5 Calculation the formation volume factor Bg
The formation volume factor of a natural gas (Bg) relates
the volume of 1 lbmol of gas at reservoir conditions to the
volume of the same lbmol of gas at standard conditions,
as follows:
Sample Problem:
References :
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