Securing the Supplies of Fossil Fuels - Energy and Climate: How to Achieve a Successful Energy Transition - page 91

Figure 7.1 Evolution of the price of crude oil ( Source : BP Statistical Review)

a more pessimistic outlook concerning oil reserves led in 2007 and the
beginning of 2008 to a sharp increase in the price of oil which reached 100
US $/barrel and then 140 US $/barrel.
The financial crisis of autumn 2008 provoked a new sharp drop in price.
Due to these very rapid oscillations, the price of oil tends to become
unpredictable in the short term. In the longer term, it appears that the era
of cheap and abundant oil is finished and that a general trend towards
increasing prices should be observed in the future.

Oil reserves: the present situation

Hydrocarbon reserves are constituted by oil and gas contained in identi-
fied fields, which can be produced under economically and commercially
acceptable conditions [76].
They take into account the economic and technical conditions, such as
the recovery yield which can be achieved with the available technologies,
prevailing at a certain time.
According to the level of certaintywithwhich these reserves are known,
it is possible to make the distinction between reserves which are proven