RusEnergy

01-26-2009 - Upstream OnLine - Russian oil company TNK-BP , half-owned by oil major BP , said on today it added at least 460 million barrels of oil equivalent to its estimated reserves in 2008 due to geological exploration alone. TNK-BP, Russia's third-largest oil producer, published the information in a corporate bulletin on its website. It did not estimate reserves that could have been added due to acquisitions and reviews of current reserves. A TNK-BP spokeswoman told Reuters the company would publish the results of its annual reserve audit shortly, probably before the end of this moth. Russian Energy Ministry data showed TNK-BP last year produced around 506 million barrels of oil and 10 billion cubic metres of gas (60 million of barrels of oil equivalent) - a total 566 million barrels of oil equivalent. This means TNK-BP would need to add at least 106 million barrels of oil equivalent to the 460 million barrels announced today to maintain its record of fully replacing the production. TNK-BP replaced its oil and gas reserves by 179% 2007, the fifth consecutive year it added more to reserves than it produced. In 2006, it replaced 129%, compared to 137% in 2005, 127% in 2004 and 133% in 2003. Analysts pay close attention to the reserves replacement ratio of oil companies for signs the company is able to sustain production growth in the future. As of the end of 2007, TNK-BP's total proved reserves stood at 8.225 billion barrels of oil equivalent, under the US Securities and Exchange Commission's methodology on a life-of-field basis. Under the less stringent criteria of the Petroleum Resources Management System, formerly known as the Society of Petroleum Engineers, total proved reserves stood at 9.982 billion barrels of oil equivalent, representing a replacement ratio of 297%.