U. S. conventional oil and gas production: Prospects to the year 2000

The authors of this book assess the prospects for production of oil and gas from U.S. domestic reserves and resources to the year 2000, using different scenarios with various assumptions about numbers of new discoveries, size of fields, and rates of recovery. Oil production, claim the authors, will decline by at least 17 percent by the end of the century - and that figure is based on the assumption that new oil fields will be discovered at almost three times historical rates. The decrease in gas production could be even more severe. Based on past exploratory success ratios and projected demand, predicted gas production shows a possible decline of 32 percent by the year 2000. For both oil and gas, the authors provide a disaggregated analysis by region and an overall combined assessment of reserves and future production. The book concludes with a cost analysis of gas production, showing how operating costs per cubic foot of annual production will rise over the next two decades.