Source: adapted from M. Simmons (2008), www.simmonsco-intl.com

Types of Oil and Gas Reserves

Oil reserves come in two forms:

• Conventional. Oil that comes in liquid form which is transportable and possible to refine. It represents the form that is the most desirable to extract since it is of high quality.
• Unconventional. Oil that comes in other forms that a much more difficult to extract, let it be in deep waters or as oil shale, and is of lower quality.

The availability of oil resources is correlated with market price and technology, but like many resources, quality (often measured in level of concentration) is inversely proportional with quantity. High quality oil and gas resources have mostly been tapped leaving more marginal resources such as tar sands and gas shale to be considered. Still, extracting low quality resources is an expensive and technically intensive endeavor.

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