Natural resource development over time Flashcards
What are proven reserves?
Highly likely to be extracted for commercial use.
Have economic viability and current tech allows this.
Likelihood of commercial extraction is at 90% or above.
Probable reserves
Thought to exist
- Geological terrain suggests reserves but no tests have yet been taken.
Likelihood of commercial extraction is above 50% but below 90%.
Security and supply of resources relates to both physical and geopolitical risks.
What physical risks are there?
- Tech available - advanced enough for viable extraction?
- location - accessible?
- Quality of the resource?
- Quantity of the resource.
What geopolitical risks are there to extracting a reserve?
- Production located in a small number of countries
- confidence an individual country has in trading with producers
- TNCs influencing government decisions.
- Chance of conflict, war, political tension.
Outline the concept of the ‘Cycle of Resource Development’:
1) Available land/sea resources
2) Exploration rights and licences.
3) Evaluation and EIA
4) Construction
5) Extraction
6) Closure of site
7) Reclamation and monitoring site.
What is the Friedman diagram?
Explains resource frontiers.
Outline the CORE in the FRIEDMAN diagram.
Core = attracts investment due to advantageous location (usually capital cities).
Outline the RESOURCE FRONTIER in the Friedman’s model
Area with natural resources present.
Rush of investment to this area.
Social conditions in resource frontiers can be underdeveloped but have high economic growth.
Give an example of a resource frontier at a global scale.
The Arctic.
Why? - It is hard to access (more than 80% of gas and oil reserves are offshore), has little infrastructure, environmental concerns.
Give an example of a resource frontier at a national scale
In UK,
Core = South West England (London)
Resource Frontier = Scotland.
Define resource peak
The amount of time of maximum rates of production of a resource.
Peak oil varies spatially.
Peak oil is shown on a Hubbert Curve.
Who developed the concept of ‘peak oil’?
Developed by Shell geophysicist M.K. HUBBERT in 1956.
When did Hubbert predict peak oil in America?
Predicted peak oil in USA would be around 1970.
However, further peaks in US oil have occured in the 1980s, 2008 and 2020.
Why is Hubbert’s peak oil concept okay on a LOCAL scale but not on a global/national scale?
1) discovery of unconventional reserves.
2) Development of renewable/flow resources
3) Geopolitical issues halt progress in some areas
4) Motivation of nations to achieve more flow resources.
What percentage of the world’s oil is held in Saudi Arabia?
25%
This is the most owned by 1 country.
