Geologists last year found 2.7 billion barrels of new oil reserves, which is the lowest since 1947. Such data contains in research of the consulting company Wood Mackenzie, Bloomberg soobshaet. Compared with the average figure since 1960, the open volumes of oil decreased by 10 times.
In 2016, the decline may be even more significant because, to date, been found only 736 million barrels.
The reason was the sharp fall in exploration expenditure, which this year amounted to only $ 40 billion against $ 100 billion in 2014. Companies were forced to reduce investment in production due to the slump in oil prices. In mid-2014, they exceeded $ 100 per barrel, and now are in the range of 45-50 dollars.
The Wood Mackenzie report takes into account the traditional sources of oil not to mention shale deposits, primarily in the United States. It is believed that they could partially replace the loss in case of a decrease in production.
Nevertheless, it is expected that global demand for oil will increase c of 95 million to 105 million barrels per day in 2026. According to previously published forecasts, the production in American shale deposits during this period can grow from 4.5 million to 6 million barrels per day.
