To be honest, we've probably very much don't.
Takes a lot of money in order to prove a material reserve. For that reason, companies won't prove everything that they think they might have, they will claim they've got a relatively small fraction of what's probably there because in order to go to the market and claim that you have something you need to have things pretty well dialed.
As an example, many mines claim that they have 5 years of reserves, but then a lot of those mines will go out to run for 50 years. I'm reasonably confident that the same is true in oil and gas.
Takes a lot of money in order to prove a material reserve. For that reason, companies won't prove everything that they think they might have, they will claim they've got a relatively small fraction of what's probably there because in order to go to the market and claim that you have something you need to have things pretty well dialed.
As an example, many mines claim that they have 5 years of reserves, but then a lot of those mines will go out to run for 50 years. I'm reasonably confident that the same is true in oil and gas.
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I'd make the argument in the other direction.
Let's say that there was something that you absolutely needed to live, and I can either tell you that I have so much of it that you will never run out or that we are constantly on the verge of running out. Which one are you likely to pay more for as a customer?
Companies don't need to look fantastic to investors, they only need to look good enough to get the capital they want. As long as they can claim enough resources to last for the next few years, they can get the money that they need to build the well or whatever they need to build.
Let's say that there was something that you absolutely needed to live, and I can either tell you that I have so much of it that you will never run out or that we are constantly on the verge of running out. Which one are you likely to pay more for as a customer?
Companies don't need to look fantastic to investors, they only need to look good enough to get the capital they want. As long as they can claim enough resources to last for the next few years, they can get the money that they need to build the well or whatever they need to build.