Minister sees Russia’s inferred oil resources at 49 bln tns

MOSCOW, Jul 5 (PRIME) -- Russia’s inferred oil resources amount to about 49 billion tonnes, while oil reserves stand at 29 billion tonnes, Natural Resources and Environment Minister Sergei Donskoi said Tuesday on his Facebook page.

“Our official estimate of discovered and technologically recoverable reserves of crude oil stands at 29 billion tonnes, or 212 billion barrels. These estimates include no future discoveries, but they may be taken into account on the basis of existing resource potential. Our inferred resources stand at about 49 billion tonnes as our geologists say, but they still have to be confirmed,” he said.

The resources are conventional, as technologies for development of non-conventional reserves are still in development. “In future, when technologies for production of non-conventional hydrocarbons develop, Russia’s oil reserves will grow significantly,” Donskoi said.

Commercially viable reserves are the most important type of reserves as Russia switched to a new reserve classification in 2016, and it will soon be able to single out the category. “I suppose that the estimate will be close to the one that is based on international audit, and reach 14 billion tonnes or 102 billion barrels,” he said.

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