Peak Oil Report: Half of Kuwait Oil Reserves Disappear

Yesterday, it was reported that the oil reserves of Kuwait are only half what was previously thought (but how do we know that the new figure is accurate?). "'Petroleum Intelligence Weekly (PIW) learns from sources that Kuwait's actual oil reserves, which are officially stated at around 99 billion barrels, or close to 10 percent of the global total, are a good deal lower, according to internal Kuwaiti records,' the weekly PIW reported on Friday [...] 'Kuwait's remaining proven and non-proven oil reserves are about 48 billion barrels.'" That means world reserves just dropped, as if by magic, by 5%. Many people familiar with the field think that Saudi Arabia is also over-inflating its reserves, so this scenario could happen again. The mainstream media didn't make much noise about this (publishing the item on a Friday is the oldest trick in the book to make sure nobody is paying attention), but it will be interesting to watch the price of oil when the stock exchange markets re-open next week. ::Kuwait oil reserves only half official estimate-PIW, via ::MetaFilter, ::Norwegian Peak Oil?, ::Canadian Oil: At What Price?, ::Peak Natural Gas, ::Grist Interviews Matthew Simmons on Peak Oil, ::CNN Gas gripes, Katrina & More About Oil, ::The Effect Of High Oil Prices On People, ::Portland Peak Oil Group, ::Peak Oil – The Lessons of Y2K, ::See Peak Oil for Yourself