Houston, We Have A Problem. Oil Reserves Have Fallen Below 10 Years

14.04.2021, 08:25 forbes.kz

Years of under-investment in exploration and a decline in project development has blown a hole in the reserves of the major international oil companies (IOCs), a group that includes ExxonMobil, Chevron and Royal Dutch Shell. Since 2015 the average reserves of the oil majors has fallen by 25% to now stand at less than 10 years of annual production. Reserves in the ground is a critical measure of an oil company with a decline seen as a negative by investors. The worst interpretation of falling reserves is that it might be an existential threat to the long-term survival of an oil company. “A Looming Challenge” Citi, an investment bank, noted the industry-wide decline of reserves in a research