Chevron can’t offset reserve fall

NEW YORK

Year-end reserves were 10.78 billion barrels of oil equivalent for 2007 and 11.62 billion at the end of 2006. With the exception of 2005, which was boosted by Unocal, Chevron’s reserves have dropped every year since 2003.

Like most large oil firms, Chevron has recently struggled to replace production due to project delays, restricted access to new fields and contracts giving a larger share of reserves to host countries at higher oil prices.