The quality of Russian crude is deteriorating sharply, with the world's largest oil producer also doing a poor job replenishing depleting reserves, a government study warned Tuesday.
The quality of Russian crude is deteriorating sharply, with the world's
largest oil producer also doing a poor job replenishing depleting reserves, a
government study warned Tuesday.
Russia
produced more than 500 million metric tons of oil in 2009 but the country's
current reserves can only sustain that rate of production for another 13 to 15
years, the study said.
Russia
's
current oil production levels mean it is now the world's top oil producer
alongside
Saudi Arabia
.
The ministry of natural resources survey said: "
Russia
has
less than 30% of oil that 'flows'--the remaining 70% is very heavy, viscous and
hard-to-recover oil."
It added that most of the crude being produced now was of the light kind
demanded on the world market, meaning that more and more of what
Russia
has
left over in its reserves will demand extra amounts of processing.
Top government officials have issued repeated warnings about too little money
being invested in the development of untapped reserves in far-flung regions of
eastern
Siberia
.
Most of the western Siberian reserves closer to
Russia
's
industrial heartland were developed in the Soviet era, with production at those
sites going down at a steady rate.
The latest survey showed that, on average, 40% of western Siberian reserves had
been used, with some sites standing more than two-thirds depleted.
The ministry also noted that the government's hopes of new oil finds in eastern
Siberia
were turning up empty, with the concentration of
reserves discovered there so far "extremely low".
Overall,
Russia
's
spending on new exploration work declined in 2009 by 40%, the ministry study said.
The study urged the government to introduce a more open licensing system that
would offer private companies easier terms for oil exploration.
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