How Much Oil is Really Down There?

Reprinted from the Wall Street Journal, April 27, 2006, Opinion Page The disclosure of “proved reserves” has been one of the great rituals of the reporting season for oil and gas companies, and one carefully monitored by investors. It’s recently taken on even more significance with high and jittery prices, concerns about energy security, and plain fear of running out. In a world of uncertainty, these disclosures seem to provide direct, quantitative information on the future oil “inventory”
Daniel Yergin, Chairman of Cambridge Energy Research Associates, is coauthor of the new CERA study Modernizing Oil and Gas Reserves Disclosure.
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