Natural Gas Reserves Estimates

The government relies on the natural gas reserves estimates published annually by an industry trade association, but the creditability of these estimates has been challenged in recent years because the data could not be independently verified. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) is developing a program with an appropriate and comprehensive approach to collect these estimates.

However, further development and improvement in the program is needed. The EIA program will collect national estimates of reserves and related data for natural gas, crude oil, and natural gas liquids. The approach is to obtain the information from those who have the best knowledge of the reserves, both on and offshore. The EIA program was supposed to supersede duplicative government programs, but two programs are which are less comprehensive. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) program will collect information only on leases on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) program will collect information only on natural gas and not from companies operating exclusively in the intrastate markets. The Department of the Interior is required to investigate trade associations' natural gas reserves estimates on OCS and provide estimates of oil and natural gas reserves to states and local governments. These requirements should not be used as support for a duplicative reserves estimation program, but should be met through use of reserves estimates collected under the EIA program.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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