Iraqi oil reserves estimated at 143B barrels

cnn world


Well well oil well.

This actually doesn't surprise me.

The OPEC figures are about 28 billion barrels higher than previous estimates.

At $81 a barrel, about what oil was trading at early Monday, the added reserves would be worth about $2.27 trillion.

I find it hard to believe it is just coincidence.

That's strange indeed. I stopped watching oil a while back when it was still trading in the $70's but perhaps the increase is just due to winters arrival in the states.

Speaking of the States, exactly who owns those oil reserves atm?

So why is the price of Black Gold so high is it trying to match the price of Yellow Gold(just a thought)

I thought it was universaly understood that peak oil was a myth used to drive up the prices.....maybe its just me.
How can anyone say how much oil is left unless you've drilled exploratory wells all over the planet?

reply to post by OllyP


I think this is a valid question. OPEC obviously decides the prices and drives them up and down. I thought I heard recently that it was up to 80$ a barrel. do they know how much there is, exactly? And do they ration it out accordingly?

When the gulf oil spill happened and then the next rig explosion, I heard of a ridiculous amounts of rigs in the Gult. In the hundreds if not more. If there is that much drilling in the Gulf alone, I can only imagine what the larger reserves are, such as the middle East.

That being said, usage also has to be conidered also.The US alone uses an obscene amount of oil.

Oil demand from emerging markets is out-pacing the supply/exploration/production of new wells. It doesn't matter how much oil is left, if it remains untapped/unreachable and production cannot keep up, the price will rise accordingly regardless of whether or not oil actually exists.
Source

Hi insite,

Originally posted by insite
Oil demand from emerging markets is out-pacing the supply/exploration/production of new wells.

According to some yes. Once you become aware of the credentials of those polled things do not seem quite so simple. Oil demand from emerging markets can only increase if their export markets recover ( most developing countries follow export based growth strategies) and since those are still in desperate straits with millions of jobs lost there is not much chance for oil consumption in such countries recovering fast.

It doesn't matter how much oil is left, if it remains untapped/unreachable and production cannot keep up, the price will rise accordingly regardless of whether or not oil actually exists.
Source

Also i do not understand the belief people have that demand and supply have much anything to do with price given our speculative financial markets. Why this strict adherence to the notion continues to exist when twenty thousand a day starve ( there is surely a demand for food ...) while there is food enough and money enough is utterly beyond me. Fact is demand only loosely determines supply and supply or lack of supply has unpredictable effects on demand.

There is sufficient oil in the ground at 20 -40 USD price range for forty odd years to come and those who still defend the notion of peak oil must please check their sources and how they have made incorrect 'its-going-to-happen-tomorrow claims for two decades running.

Thanks

Stellar