By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Mar. 18 -- BP PLC reduced its previously booked reserves for 2002 by 445 million boe, or 2.5%, but the company noted that its overall reserves through Dec. 31, 2003, grew to 18.34 billion boe, or 4.3%.
The downward revision involved 157 million bbl of oil and 1.7 tcf of gas, a BP spokesman in London confirmed Thursday. The revisions were outlined in the company's latest annual report, which was released last week.
The revision was not unusual and stemmed from additional drilling results and recent seismic survey information, he said. The particular fields involved were not outlined in the annual report.
BP's revision comes when investors are watching reserves estimates closely because other companies already announced bigger reductions.
Royal Dutch/Shell Group on Jan. 9 revised its booked reserves for 2002 downward by 3.9 billion boe, or 20%. This week, Shell announced the recategorization of another 250 million boe as of Dec. 31, 2002.
For 2003, Shell reduced the volume of proved reserves it planned to book by 220 million boe, representing a reduction in the 2003 reserves replacement ratio of 16%.
El Paso Corp. of Houston last month reduced its estimated proven oil and natural gas reserves by 1.8 tcfe, or 41%, leaving the company with 2.64 tcfe as of Dec. 31, 2003. Of that total, 66% is proved developed reserves (OGJ Online, Feb. 18, 2004).
