Non-RE energy reserves shrink
THE country’s commercially viable non-renewable energy reserves — coal, oil, natural gas and condensate in particular — shrank last year but still mostly grew in terms of value, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Thursday.
Class A coal, oil, natural gas and condensate reserves were said to be worth P241.99 billion in 2021, up 68.4 percent from the previous year’s P143.67 billion, the PSA said in a statement. It did not explain the reason for the substantial increase.
The resource rent, or the value “accruing to the extractor or user of an asset calculated after all costs and normal returns have been taken into account,” of these four energy resources, contributed 0.22 percent to gross domestic product last year, improving from 0.13 percent in 2020.
The PSA defined Class A reserves as “commercially recoverable mineral resources which are confirmed to be economically viable by a defined development project or operation.”
Class B reserves, meanwhile, are those that are “potentially commercially recoverable” while Class C comprises non-commercial and other known deposits.
The PSA explained that energy resources are classified according to three criteria affecting their likelihood of extraction: economic and social viability, field project status and feasibility, and geological knowledge.
The monetary value of coal reserves increased to P181.3 billion, more than double 2020’s P85.17 billion. Oil reserves increased to P14.08 billion from P9.30 billion while natural gas reserves rose to P26.02 billion from P22.39 billion.
The value of condensate reserves, however, went down to P20.59 billion from P26.79 billion.
In physical terms, Class A coal reserves decreased to 365.71 million metric tons (MT) in 2021 from 381.47 million MT a year earlier. Oil reserves also declined to 31.46 million barrels from 32.10 million barrels, natural gas reserves went down to 212.38 billion standard cubic feet from 333.47 billion, and condensate reserves decreased to 9.41 million barrels from 29.38 million.