TNK-BP, Russia’s third-largest oil producer, said that under the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s methodology, which uses the year-end spot price and applies to the economic life of a field, proved reserves rose in 2010 to 8.8 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe) from 8.6 billion boe.
The two percent rise in total proved reserves gave a reserve replacement ratio of 134 percent.
Russia is a key part of BP’s global operation, providing the company with more than a quarter of its reserves. Before the oil spill off the Gulf of Mexico, TNK-BP’s operations made up around 14 percent of BP’s annual profit.
Under the less stringent criteria of the Petroleum Resources Management System (PRMS), formerly known as the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), TNK-BP’s reserves replacement ratio stood at 322 percent as reserves rose to 13 billion boe from 11.7 billion barrels at the end of 2009.
“The reserves growth was achieved thanks to an increase in the oil recovery factor, resulting from efficiently maintaining reservoir pressure and engineering studies at the Verkhnechonskoye, Urnenskoye and Ust-Tegusskoye oil fields,” the statement said.
Analysts and investors pay close attention to the reserves replacement ratio of oil companies for signs the firm is able to sustain production growth in the future.
