Importance of Unconventional Oil Resources in Shaping the Far East Energy Future
Authors: Stark Pete , Chew Kenneth , Jackson Peter 
Published: December 2008

The Far East must fuel its growing economies while oil production has remained flat since 2000. With more than half of the region's conventional oil already depleted, industry hopes to increase liquid supplies through the development of unconventional resources. Difficult to manage unconventional reservoirs, though, challenge the ability to transform even huge in-place resources like extra-heavy oil and oil shales to supplies.

The Far East is endowed with estimated 268 Bb of in-place heavy oil and bitumen resources. Drilling has found 229 fields with estimated 6.2 Bbo of 2P recoverable heavy oil. China dominates with 4,082 MMb and heavy oil reserves have been discovered in India, Indonesia, Brunei and Malaysia.

Unconventional igneous, basement and volcanic reservoir rocks yield important oil and gas production in the Far East. Igneous and basement rocks account for 3,658 MMbo and 1,359 Boe of gas resources. Vietnam accounts for the most 2P resources in this category. Led by China and Indonesia, volcanic reservoirs contribute 471 MMbo plus 1,394 MMboe of gas to the region.

Oil shale is the region's sleeping giant. China commenced oil shale processing in 1928 and has ramped up three projects, Fushun, Maoming and Huadian, where it produced about 2.1 MMb during 2007 and targets 35 MMb recovery by 2020. Petrochina has boosted China's recoverable shale oil resources to 241 Bb. Technology is the key to unlock these resources. It may be only a matter of time before China tests the in situ processes being evaluated by Shell, Chevron and EGL in the Colorado Plateau or recently licensed by Raytheon to Schlumberger.

The paper reviews the evolving plays and technologies that impact the development of the Far East's unconventional oil resources.

Introduction

Unconventional oil resources are increasingly important in the quest for energy security. Global liquids discoveries have failed to replace oil production for more than twenty years. There is concern that conventional oil resources will not be able to meet growing supply requirements to fuel worldwide economic growth. This concern has triggered a scramble to secure long-term oil supplies. The identified, 7,590 billion barrels (Bb) of in-place bitumen, "heavy" oil and oil shale resources are about the same as estimated global in-place conventional liquids resource. In a high oil price environment, unconventional resources are viewed as important and economically attractive components of future oil supplies. But there is a "catch" to the role of unconventional oil in the global oil supply perspective. While in-place unconventional oil resources are about the same as the conventional resources the unconventional resources currently account for only about 2.5% of global oil production. Nevertheless, large International Oil Companies (IOCs) and National Oil Companies (NOCs) have increased their unconventional oil holdings as a means to secure large, long-life oil supplies. They also have increased their R&D budgets to develop new technologies to boost recoveries from unconventional resources.