Friday Factoid: Oil Estimate Slip-Sliding Away
The Monterey Shale oil prospect takes a big hit, but daily extraction rates jump.
The Monterey Shale oil prospect takes a big hit, but daily extraction rates jump.
Word on the street is that the U.S. Energy Information Administration has reduced how much oil is expected to be technically recoverable from the Monterey Shale in southern California by 96 percent. The new estimate drops the tally from 13.7 billion barrels to 600 million barrels.
At the same time EIA estimates the formation to yield more oil per day. According to the new numbers, the Monterey Shale will produce 57,000 barrels per day between 2010 and 2040 versus 14,000 barrels per day under the old. (More on U.S. shale plays [pdf].)
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