Business
Oil And Gas
Values Rise Resource reserves total £109 billion
Combined oil and gas reserves increased in
value by 20 per cent between 2001 and 2002 to £109
billion.
The value of oil reserves has
more than doubled from £24 billion in 1994 to
£63 billion in 2002. During the same period
the value of gas reserves increased from £17
billion to £46 billion. These rises are the
result of higher commodity prices, particularly in
the period 2001 to 2002.
The value of the UK’s
recoverable oil and gas reserves mainly depends upon
the estimated physical amounts remaining, the current
rate of extraction and the assumed future price per
unit of oil or gas, net of the cost of extraction.
Expressing UK oil and gas reserves
in monetary terms allows these subsoil assets to be
compared with other economic entities. This provides
a means for the commercial depletion of subsoil assets
to be set against national income.
