The rivals to Russia's oil reserves

Timon Singh

Russia and its large oil and gas reserves are generally considered the main source for Europe's energy needs. However Europe has reserves of its own, so who are the rivals of Russia's oil reserves and why aren't they being exploited?

The quick answer is consumption: Europe has oil reserves in the likes of the North Sea, but they are nowhere near large enough to cover the current rate of consumption that Europe enjoys.

To put it in perspective, 100 million tons of oil is extracted from the North Sea per year - and that is only enough for Norway and Britain. Not just that, but the rate of extraction in the sea has been falling over the past few years despite the occasional discovery of the odd small deposit.

These deposits, such as one recently found by Norwegian company Det, generally only contain seven to twelve million barrels but the North Sea still has great potential, not to mention parts of the Arctic which has yet to be fully explored and exploited.

The problem with the North Sea is the reserves there are split up amongst Europe's powers. The largest oil wells on the British continental shelf in the Northern Sea are Leman-Bank, Brent, Markham and Buzzard with proven reserves of approximately 3481 million tons. Wytch Farm, the largest continental field is said to contain 60 million tons of oil.

Despite these numbers, the likes of France simply don't extract enough to support their economy. France mines only 20,000 barrels of oil daily, yet requires nearly 2 million barrels a day. Their entire oil reserves are also rumoured to total 'only' 122 million tons. Faced with these figures, it is not surprising they rely on Russia. And they're not alone.

Not as large as Russia's....

Italy, Spain, Germany and Austria all have oil reserves despite, unlike France and Britain, being reliant on the North Sea. For Italy, the annual volume of extraction varies between 4-6 million tons, although the country has proven reserves of 85 million tons.

These are generally all concentrated on the oil fields of Trecate, Monte-Alpi, Ragusa and also on the continental shelf - Rospo-Mare, Akila, Gela. The Italians extract heavy oil at sea, and are positively 'oil rich' compared to Spain.

Spain has explored oil reserves of 1 million tons, which is located in the Mediterranean Sea. This field, named Casablanca, is operated by several Spanish oil companies but oil output has been decreasing steadily and hardly reaches one percent of the nation's needs. This aspect explains Spain's investment in assorted alternative energy projects such as solar power and why they have backed Russian pipeline projects.

Germany and Austria however are among the wealthiest in Europe when it comes to oil. Germany has approximately 560 million tons of oil, while Austria has 95 million tons - pretty good, for a country of its size. As such, Austrian oil is amongst the cheapest in Europe.

However, while these countries are all pursuing various green energy projects, in the here and now they still need oil, and despite, in some case, healthy reserves, Russia will be needed for the foreseeable future to make up the totals.

Relevant articles:

The future of Europe's gas infrastructure | Europe's natural gas futures | Poland: An alternative to Russia?