Energy Information Administration

Iraq is estimated to hold 115 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, and possibly much more undiscovered oil in unexplored areas of the country. Iraq also is estimated to contain at least 110 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. The country is a focal point for regional and international security issues.
Note: The information contained in this report is the best available as of March 2004 and can change. Also, please click here for a complete chronology of events pertaining to Iraq from 1980 through February 2004

NY Times -With Oil Prices High, OPEC Balks at Cutting Production
HOUSTON, March 22 - Some OPEC members are signaling their reluctance to proceed with announced cuts in production as crude oil prices have climbed to their highest level since the first gulf war.
Oil prices for May delivery eased on Monday after the members' statements, falling 57 cents, or more than 1.5 percent, in New York, to $37.05 a barrel.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is scheduled to discuss quotas at a meeting on March 31 in Vienna, but several representatives from member nations, including officials from Qatar and Venezuela, said they were hesitant to cut production significantly.

Natural Gas Weekly Update
Overview: Thursday, March 18, 2004 (next release 2:00 p.m. on March 25)
Natural gas spot prices have increased since Wednesday, March 10, at most market locations in the Lower 48 States. For the week (Wednesday-Wednesday), prices at the Henry Hub increased 28 cents or about 5 percent to $5.61 per MMBtu. Yesterday (Wednesday, March 17), the price of the NYMEX futures contract for April delivery at the Henry Hub settled at $5.722 per MMBtu, increasing roughly 33 cents or 6 percent since last Wednesday.

British Thermal Unit (BTU), MBTU, MMBTU
A standard unit of measurement used to denote both the amount of heat energy in fuels and the ability of appliances and air conditioning systems to produce heating or cooling. A BTU is the amount of heat required to increase the temperature of a pint of water (which weighs exactly 16 ounces) by one degree Fahrenheit. Since BTUs are measurements of energy consumption, they can be converted directly to kilowatt-hours (3412 BTUs = 1 kWh) or joules (1 BTU = 1,055.06 joules). A wooden kitchen match produce approximately 1 BTU, and air conditioners for household use typically produce between 5,000 and 15,000 BTU.
MBTU stands for one million BTUs, which can also be expressed as one decatherm (10 therms). MBTU is occasionally used as a standard unit of measurement for natural gas and provides a convenient basis for comparing the energy content of various grades of natural gas and other fuels. One cubic foot of natural gas produces approximately 1,000 BTUs, so 1,000 cu.ft. of gas is comparable to 1 MBTU. MBTU is occasionally expressed as MMBTU, which is intended to represent a thousand thousand BTUs.

So 115 billion barrels of Oil at $35 a barrel, a nice chunk of loose change:

Some quick math 115 billion * $35 = $4025 billion. That's a measly 4 trillion dollars worth of Oil on today's market.

and for good measure we have all that Natural Gas,


110 trillion cubic feet of natural gas aproximates 110 billion MBTU (110 trillion/ 1000) at slightly over $5 on the market at the present time.

So a little more math:

110 Billion * $5 = $550 Billion, another nice chunk of loose change.

At todays Market price & assuming that the reserve estimates are reasonably accurate & that the price of energy does not collape, we are looking at over $4.5 trillion worth of loot. There are many people who believe that it might be worth a few hundred billion dollars and a couple hundred thousand dead bodies to get control of all that filthy lucre, after all they or their families aren't the ones doing the dying.

Now this quick back of the envelope does not take into account all the intangibles that controlling all that oil will give you, such as the ability to blackmail other industrial countries, or possibly cut off their Oil supply.

WAR FOR OIL sounds about right!!!


- posted by Don Quijote @ 11:01 PM