A nem konvencionális forrásokról azt a részt emelném ki, hogy egyedül Venezuelában 1.2 billió hordó nehézolaj tartalékkal számolnak. A hatalmas olajmezőnek, még csak egyes részeit mérték fel teljesen. A becslések szerint 3-4 billió hordó nehézolaj lehet a föld alatt. Nehány geológus szerint ez a mező elnyúlhat a Falkland-szigetekig. Jelenlegi technológiával az olaj egy harmadát lehetne kitermelni. Az egész termelési folyamat ugyanazt az infrastruktúrát használja, mint a hagyományos olaj. Csak azért "nem konvencionális", mert a finomítás költségei szignifikánsan magasabbak -- 10$ - 20$ a többletköltség hordónként az "édes könnyű" /*:)*/ Szaudi olajhoz képest. Ez annyit jelent a fogyasztókra nézve, hogy 25-50 centtel többet kell fizetniük a töltőállomásokon.
"Az olajtársaságok nagy mértékben alulbecsülték a latin amerikai olajtartalékokat, amely köszönhető a cégekkel szemben tanusított, több mint 50 éves hagyományra visszatekintő ellenségeskedésnek. Ebben az időszakban, az olajcégeket az amerikai imperializmus legnagyobb ügynökeinek tartottották. [...]" -- Peter Odell
Unconventional Reserves
The distinction between the conventional oil reserves which are fairly well known and unconventional reserves is not cut and dried. As Charles Masters of USGS said:
"Unconventional resources, such as extra heavy oils, tar sands, gas in tight sands, and coal bed methane are not considered [in the USGS 2000 assessment] but they must, nonetheless, be recognized as being present in very large quantities.... The two major sources of unconventional oil ... are the extra heavy oil in the Orinoco province of Venezuela and the ... tar sands in the Western Canada Basin. Taken together, these resource occurrences, in the Western Hemisphere, are approximately equal to the Identified Reserves of conventional crude oil accredited to the Middle East."
Masters was probably conservative here. Venezuela alone claims to have quite a bit more oil in the Orinoco than all of the Middle East combined, and the technical definition of petroleum seems to be the only thing standing in the way of world recognition of the fact.
As a member of OPEC, Venezuela already has a prominent position on the proven reserve charts, with 47 to 76 billion barrels of proven reserves, according to oil industry / DOE estimates.The USGS puts Venezuelan reserves around the same level, at 48 identified and 110 ultimately recoverable. And yet Venezuela itself claims 1.2 trillion (trillion, with a T) barrels of unconventional oil reserves in the supergiant heavy oil field stretching from the mouth of the Orinoco River near Trinidad down the east side of the Andes mountains. (Arcaya, 2001) The oil is located in a geosynclinal trough that some geologists belive may be continuous through the Falkland Islands off the coast of Argentina. Only parts of the heavy oil field have been fully explored, but those parts have been estimated at some three to four trillion barrels of heavy oil in place, with perhaps one third recoverable using current technology. Heavy oil is pumped, transported and refined with the same equipment used in conventional oil. It is "unconventional" only because the cost of refining is significantly higher -- from $10 to $20 per barrel higher than "sweet light" Saudi crude oil. It could translate into anywhere from 25 to 50 cents more at the pump for consumers.
All of Latin America's oil resources have been under-estimated, accoding to Dutch Geologists Peter Odell and Keneth Rosing. Oil reserve estimates have followed the expectations of opportunities and conditions for exploiting oil. (Odell, 1980)
Oil Industry view Grossling
(USGS) Russia (then-USSR)
Min. of Geology
Latin America 150-230 490-1225
620
Africa 120-170 470-1200 730
South and SE Asia 55-80 150-325 660
Totals 325-480 1090-2750 2010
"The (oil) companies have largely discounted the Latin American potential for hydrocarbons. This appears to be the result of a more than 50 year history of general hostility to the companies by most countries of the continent. Over this period the companies have generally been viewed as prime agents of US imperialism ... [Thus} Latin America's ultimate resource base has become unenthusiastic and outdated." -- Peter Odell
