The spot price of oil touched a new high yesterday, running above $75 a barrel. The world’s most valuable commodity may be vulnerable to a correction if U.S. economic growth downshifts in the months ahead, but for the moment oil traders can only say buy. Some of that has to do with geopolitical tension, of which there is no shortage these days.
Alas, separating the fundamental from the political is no easy task when it comes to analyzing crude. Nonetheless, the oil giant BP recently updated its annual review of all things energy, once again making a valiant effort to emphasize the quantitative over the qualitative via its 2006 Statistical Review of World Energy.
Poring over the data, we found an array of profiles and trends, ranging from the expected to the surprising. Here’s a sampling:
Perhaps the most predictable item in crunching energy numbers is the recurring theme of Saudi Arabia as the world’s leading repository of proved oil reserves, or so official statistics tell us. Equally unsurprising is the fact that the top-five nations for proven oil reserves are also in the Middle East. Who says the oil business is always unpredictable?
Moving over to the not-so-obvious category we discovered that India and Brazil post the biggest percentage gains in proven oil reserves last year over 2004. The biggest loser, in percentage terms, was Mexico–a country that just happens to be one of the main suppliers to the energy-hungry United States. For perspective, the global change in proven reserves was 0.6% last year. It’s worth noting that proven reserves can be manipulated, depending on the country in question. In fact, it’s a safe bet that politics has more than a little influence in many countries regarding the numbers dispensed for public consumption.
