Conoco Inc., Houston, said Thursday that it added 333 million boe to its worldwide proved reserves in 2000, replacing 139% of the oil and gas it and affiliates produced during the year.
Conoco's 2000 reserve additions largely came from the company's primary focus areas of Indonesia, Venezuela, North America, the UK, and Viet Nam.
"Reserve additions were 102% of our worldwide production, excluding acquisitions and dispositions,'' said Archie Dunham, Conoco's chairman and CEO. "These additions are the result of a focused strategy and excellent project selection and implementation.
"We also made several strategic acquisitions during the year, such as the Saga purchase in the North Sea, which contributed to the overall excellent reserves replacement rate,'' he said (OGJ Online, Oct. 25, 2000).
The company's 2000 year-end proved reserves increased to 2.65 billion boe, up 4% from 2000. International proved reserves, which represent nearly 75% of Conoco's worldwide reserves, were up 5% to 2 billion boe.
"Between 1996 and 2000, Conoco replaced an average of 176% of production, which is among the best in the industry,'' Dunham added.
"Conoco's 2000 production of 240 million boe reflects a 3% increase over 1999. Natural gas production was up 3%, reaching 104 million boe (624 billion cu ft), which reflects an ongoing effort to increase the percentage of natural gas in our production portfolio. Natural gas production rose from 38% of total production in 1996 to 43% in 2000,'' Dunham said.
Rob McKee, Conoco's executive vice-president of worldwide exploration and production, said in 2000 the company had a 36% exploration success rate and nine discoveries, "three of which are potentially significant.''
In 2001, the company plans to drill 27 exploration and six appraisal wells in the Gulf of Mexico, Norway, the UK, Viet Nam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Nigeria and Canada.
It plans to spend $2.4 billion on capital projects and cash exploration expense in 2001, down nearly $400 million from 2000. That year included the $550 million Saga acquisition.
Most of the capital budget, about $1.8 billion, will be spent on the upstream sector. Major projects include Petrozuata in Venezuela as well as the Lobo and San Juan gas fields in the US. The UK Clair project, Norway's Huldra field, and Viet Nam's Rang Dong field are also prominent.
