美国竟然在这方面成了世界第一

石油与天然气咨询公司Rystad Energy的最新报告显示，美国目前拥有最大的石油储量，俄罗斯和沙特阿拉伯分别位居第二和第三。

Rystad的数据涵盖了已证实的现有油田中的石油、已经被发现且可采集概率很大的石油，以及尚未发现油田的预计可采石油。美国超过50%的石油储量都是以“非常规页岩油”的形式存在，光德克萨斯州就有6,000万桶这种类型的页岩油。

如果Rystad使用更加保守的方式来估算现有石油储量，美国则会以290亿桶探明石油的储量跌落到第四位，位于沙特阿拉伯、俄罗斯和伊朗之后。这一数值，和美国主要通过非常规提取手段获取2,640亿桶石油的潜在能力，凸显了美国能源业新的水力压裂技术的未来。

尽管如此，Rystad也阐述了美国着重开发其他可再生能源的重要性。报告写道：“Rystad Energy现在估计，全球的石油储量为2.092万亿桶，也就是说，按照目前的原油开采量300亿桶，还可以开采70年。这一数值表明，地球上的可采石油存量已经相对有限。而全球的汽车保有量可能会在未来30年内从10亿辆翻倍至20亿辆。很显然，光靠石油无法满足个人交通日益增长的需求。”（财富中文网）

译者：严匡正

According to a new analysis from oil and gas consulting firm Rystad Energy, the United States is the country with the largest volume of oil reserves, with Russia and Saudi Arabia coming in second and third, respectively.

Rystad’s analysis includes oil in proven, existing fields, oil that has been discovered and will probably be recoverable, as well as an estimate for recoverable oil in as-yet discovered oil fields. More than 50% of the United States oil reserves come in the form of “unconventional shale oil,” with Texas alone containing 60 million barrels of this type of fossil fuel.

When Rystad applies more conservative estimates of proven oil reserves, the United States falls to fourth place, behind Saudi Arabia, Russia, and Iran with just 29 billion barrels of proved reserves. The difference between this figure and America’s potential capacity to extract 264 billion barrels, mostly through unconventional extraction methods, underscores the importance of new fracking technologies to the American energy future.

That said, the Rystad report also illustrates why it’s critical for the U.S. to focus on developing other, renewable forms of energy. “Rystad Energy now estimates total global oil reserves at 2092 billion barrels, or 70 times the current production rate of about 30 billion barrels of crude oil per year, the report reads. “This data confirms that there is a relatively limited amount of recoverable oil left on the planet. With the global car-park possibly doubling from 1 billion to 2 billion cars over the next 30 years, it becomes very clear that oil alone cannot satisfy the growing need for individual transport.”