USGS World Petroleum Assessment 2000: Undiscovered Oil and Gas Resources

The U.S. Geological Survey's World Petroleum Assessment 2000 provides estimates of undiscovered conventional oil, gas, and natural gas liquids outside the United States. The assessment covers 96 countries and 2 jointly held areas, identifying 159 Total Petroleum Systems and 270 Assessment Units. A team of more than 40 geoscientists conducted the study from 1995 to 2000, using geologic analysis to forecast potential reserves for the period 1995 to 2025.

Use Cases

• Modeling global energy supply forecasts based on estimated undiscovered resource volumes.
• Analyzing the geographic distribution of petroleum potential based on identified Total Petroleum Systems and Assessment Units.
• Comparing resource estimates for geopolitical groups like OPEC and OECD based on aggregated country-level allocations.
• Studying geologic controls on petroleum distribution using the Total Petroleum System framework.

Strengths

• Provides specific mean volume estimates: 649 billion barrels of oil, 4,669 trillion cubic feet of gas, and 207 billion barrels of natural gas liquids.
• Assessment is based on extensive geologic studies conducted by a team of more than 40 geoscientists over a five-year period.
• Covers a significant geographic scope, quantitatively assessing 149 Total Petroleum Systems and 246 Assessment Units across 128 geologic provinces.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Last update date is unknown; the assessment's temporal focus is 1995-2025, so data may be dated.
• Row count and file formats are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), via NASA Earthdata and CEOS_EXTRA.

Collection Method

Geologic assessment based on studies of Total Petroleum Systems and Assessment Units, not statistical analysis.

Time Range

Assessment conducted 1995-2000, forecasting potential for 1995-2025.

Freshness

Assessment period is 1995-2000; forecast span is 1995-2025. Last update date is unknown.

Geography

96 countries and 2 jointly held areas outside the United States.