The North Sea and southern shale: Britain’s oil in numbers:
British Geological Survey says there are 4.4bn barrels of oil beneath Kent, Surrey and Sussex – a fraction of the total that has been recovered from the UK North Sea to date
NORTH SEA OIL* 26.6 billion – total barrels of oil extracted to date
330 million – barrels of oil extracted in 2012
3 billion – proven remaining oil reserves – those it should definitely be viable to extract
8 billion – maximum proven, probable and possible oil reserves –all those that could potentially be extracted
*overwhelmingly North Sea, but figures also includes some onshore oil production
SHALE OIL IN ‘WEALD’ BASIN OF SOUTHERN ENGLAND
4.4 billion – best estimate of amount of shale oil ‘resource’ – the amount physically in the ground in the Weald basin of southern England, according to British Geological Survey
220 million – possible amount that could actually be extracted, assuming 5 per cent recovery rate
USAGE
550 million – barrels of oil consumed in UK in 2012
$110 price of a barrel of oil (Brent crude)
Sources: Department for Energy and Climate Change; British Geological Survey
