US crude oil, gas reserves fall for 1st time in 3 years

Oil tankers

US proved reserves of crude oil and lease condensate totaled 46 billion barrels at the end of 2023, a 3.9% decline from the previous year’s record, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a recent report.

Moreover, US proved reserves of natural gas fell to 603.6 trillion cubic feet, a 12.6% decline from their 2022 record. Both declines marked the first annual drop in US proved reserves since 2020.

Prices heavily affected estimates of proved reserves, EIA added.

Despite the decline in reserves, oil production rose by 7.8% in 2023, while natural gas output increased by 3.4% year-on-year.

North Dakota’s crude oil and lease condensate reserves decreased 12.3%, or 611 million barrels, from 2022, the largest annual net decline reported among all states. Alaska’s natural gas proved reserves decreased 22.7%, the largest annual net decline (28.5 trillion cubic feet) among all states in 2023.

Proved reserves are operator estimates of the volumes of oil and natural gas that geological and engineering data demonstrate with reasonable certainty to be recoverable in the future from known reservoirs under existing economic and operating conditions.