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Oil & Gas Conversion Chart (2008)
SPE reserve definitions SEC reserve definitions
Proved (1P) reserves: Proved reserves
Quantities of petroleum, which, by analysis of geoscience and The estimated quantities of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas
engineering data, can be estimated with reasonable certainty to be liquids that geological and engineering data demonstrate with
commercially recoverable, from a given date forward, from known reasonable certainty to be recoverable in future years from known
reservoirs under defined economic conditions, operating methods reservoirs under existing economic and operating conditions.
and government regulations. Probabilistic – at least 90% probability. Economic producibility must be supported by either actual
Deterministic – high degree of confidence. production or conclusive formation test. The SEC allows 3Dseismic
Probable (2P) reserves: data to be used in the deep water Gulf of Mexico where high drilling
Additional reserves which analysis of geoscience and engineering costs prohibit full evaluation of a reservoir section.
data indicate are less likely to be recovered than proved reserves, but
more certain to be recovered than possible reserves. It is equally Contingent reserve definition
likely that actual remaining quantities recovered will be greater than Quantities of hydrocarbon estimated to be potentially recoverable
or less than the sum of the estimated proved plus probable reserves from known accumulations, but are not currently considered to be
(2P). Probabilistic – at least 50% probability that quantities recovered commercially recoverable. Contingent resources may be of a
will equal or exceed the 2P estimate. significant size, but still have constraints to development. These
Possible (3P) reserves: constraints, preventing the booking of reserves, may relate to lack of
Additional reserves which analysis of geoscience and engineering gas marketing arrangements or to technical, environmental or
data suggest are less likely to be recoverable than probable reserves. political barriers that prevent current economic development.
The total quantities ultimately recovered from a project have a low
probability to exceed the sum of provided plus probable plus possible Prospective resources
(3P) reserves. Probabilistic – at least 10% probability that quantities Those quantities of petroleum estimated, as of a given date, to be
recovered will equal or exceed the 3P estimate. potentially recoverable from undiscovered accumulations by
Probabilistic reserve definitions application of future development projects. This class represents a
higher risk than contingent resources as the risk of discovery is also
P90. A probability cut-off of 90% is often used to describe proved added.
reserves. In this case, proved reserves are defined as having a better-
than-90% chance of being produced over the life of the field.
P50. A probability cut-off of 50% is often used to describe probable
reserves. Reserves that have a better-than-50% chance of being
technically and economically producible. These are reserves that are
often referred to as ‘indicated’.
P10. A probability cut-off of 10% is often used to describe possible
reserves. These are reserves that are often described as ‘inferred’.
They have a less-than-50% chance of being technically and
economically producible.
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