Russian oil giant OAO Lukoil has combined reserves of some 23 billion bbl of oil and 6.6 tcf of gas, with 60% concentrated in its "main resource region" of West Siberia, according to a new independent calculation by US engineering company Miller and Lents Inc.
Miller and Lents's evaluation, carried out under the requirements of the US Society of Petroleum Engineers, set Lukoil's proved and commercial reserves, as of Jan. 1, 2000, at 13.5 billion bbl of oil and 3.9 tcf of gas.
Based on a netback price of $12.66/bbl of oil and $0.31/1,000 cu ft of gas, the US firm toted up Lukoil's worldwide future cash inflows from sales of oil and gas at more than $172 billion-$98.6 billion coming from West Siberia, $65.8 billion from European Russia, and $7.6 billion from its international assets.
Beyond West Siberia, where the bulk of Lukoil reserves lie, Miller and Lent reported Lukoil's share of reserves in the European and northern regions of Russia equal to some 4.5 billion bbl of oil and 857 bcf of gas has "significant increased" through the buyout of OAO KomiTEK and OAO Arkhangelskgeoldobycha.
At 548 MM bbl of oil and 1.7 tcf of gas, the Russian oil company's international reserves base gas is growing too, and stands at around 5% of Lukoil's total worldwide reserves.
Lukoil's total reserves include the evaluated properties in the Tyumen, Urals, Volga, Kalingrad, and Republic of Komi and Arkhangelsk (Timan Pechora) regions, as well as international projects where the company is a partner, such as the Tengiz, Karachaganak, and Kumkol fields in Kazakhstan, the Azeri field in Azerbaijan, and the Meleiha field in Egypt.
The "efficiency and volume" of its properties in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan are expected to be helped "significantly" by the completion of the first stage of the embattled Trans-Caspian Pipeline in 2001.
Miller and Lent also included Lukoil's interests in the West Qurna field in Iraq where reserves are set at some 2.4 billion bbl of oil in its calculations, though because of current UN sanctions against the Middle east republic these were not factored into the total reserve evaluation.
Lukoil's present production levels, according to the US firm, could be maintained by proven reserves for some 28 years on average.