Oil reserves in Spain
The oil reserves of Spain have been little exploited[1] but major inshore and offshore deposits were discovered in the late 20th century[2] and early 21st century.[3] There are oil deposits in Burgos (Ayoluengo oil field), Córdoba, the south shore, Cádiz, Sevilla, Jaén, Asturias, Tarragona, Valencia and Canarias.[4][5] The Tarragona oil deposits, which lie offshore, include the Lubina and Montanazo deposits,[6] all located within the Casablanca oilfield, discovered in 1975, and the largest find in Spain until the 21st century.[2] The Viura gas field was discovered in 2010 in La Rioja, near Logroño; it contains 3 billion cubic meters of natural gas.[7]
Reserves in the oilfields offshore the Canary Islands are estimated at 500 million barrels of crude. In total, in 2014 it was estimated that Spain holds 2.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas and 2 billion barrels of petroleum.[3]
Size and market value[edit]
The Ilustre Colegio Oficial de Geólogos (Distinguished Royal College of Geologists), states that Spain could supply itself with crude for 20 years and 70 years of natural gas.[8] In 2022, it was estimated that the value of the already identified gas deposits was €700,000 million, plus €150,000 million for the oil; it was also predicted, that should exploitation begin in earnest, by 2040 the annual economic contribution would be of €44,400 million per year —larger than the GDP contribution of agriculture, or of transportation.[9] The Consejo Superior de Colegios de Ingenieros de Minas (High Council of Associations of Mining Engineers) in 2022 estimated recoverable gas reserves at 40 years of annual national consumption, i.e., 1,300 million cubic meters.[10]
History of exploration and production[edit]
In modern times, hydrocarbon exploration and extraction dates back to 1860. Scientific drilling based on geological principles began in 1940, by CAMPSA and by CIEPSA, a subsidiary of CEPSA. VALDEBRO, a U.S.-Spain consortium brought noteworthy technical advances after 1952. The first commercial success was Castillo-1 (1960), inland Álava, in the Cantabrian-Basque oil region.[11] A consortium of Unión Fenosa, Sociedad de Hidrocarburos de Euskadi and Oil Gas Skills found the 3-bn cu-m Viura gas field in 2010.[7]
As of 2018, Ayoluengo was the only onshore commercially exploited oil field of Spain (and the only one in the entire Iberian Peninsula);[12] the operating company requested a license extension to continue production but in November that year it was asked to remove its equipment. The Casablanca platform in the Mediterranean, the final Spanish producer, closed in June 2021.[13]
Non-traditional oil deposits[edit]
Oil condensate deposits lie in the Basque-Cantabrian basin, in the Liassic, i.e., the Lower Jurassic stratum.[14]
References[edit]
- ^ Juan Ignacio González Ruiz; and Michelle Lezama Molina; Uría Menéndez (1 November 2020). "Oil and gas regulation in Spain: overview". Practical Law. Thomson Reuters. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
Spanish oil exploration and extraction activities are almost non-existent. According to the Spanish Corporation on Strategic Stocks (CORES) database, in 2019 only 0.07% of final oil products for consumption were produced domestically.
- ^ a b Jorge Navarro Comet (March 2019). "Casablanca: Spain's Biggest Oil Field". AAPG Explorer. American Association of Petroleum Geologists. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
he Casablanca oil field, discovered in 1975
- ^ a b Stephen Burgen (26 March 2014). "Spain's oil deposits and fracking sites trigger energy gold rush". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
Major offshore oil discoveries [...] an estimate of 2bn barrels of oil and 2.5bn cubic metres of gas. The oil companies estimate that the deposits in a series of oilfields off the Canaries, the latest of which was confirmed last week, amount to 500m barrels of crude.
- ^ "España, tierra de petróleo sin explotar: estos son los lugares donde hay crudo". El Debate (periódico digital). 2 May 2023. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
yacimiento más famoso se encuentra en Ayoluengo (Burgos), hallado en 1964 y donde se llegaron a extraer hasta 10.000 barriles diarios, pero no es la única: Adamuz (Córdoba), la Costa del Sol, el Golfo de Cádiz, Sevilla, Jaén, Asturias, Cantabria, las aguas de Tarragona y de Canarias y el Golfo de Valencia completan el mapa petrolífero español
- ^ "El Petróleo". Energía. Ministerio de Medio Ambiente de España. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
Se han descubierto yacimientos de petróleo y gas en varios campos en tierra y mar, el primero de ellos de petróleo, en 1964, en Ayoluengo (Burgos) y los posteriores en el mar Mediterráneo, golfo de Valencia, mar Cantábrico, valle del Guadalquivir y golfo de Cádiz
- ^ Darius Snieckus (17 May 2021). "Spain bans new oil and gas exploration, while supercharging renewables". Recharge. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
Spain's main remaining producing oil & gas assets are in the Mediterranean Sea, off the coast of Tarragona. Transitioning national oil company Repsol operates the Lubina and Montanazo oil fields in the area
- ^ a b "España intenta exprimir su único yacimiento de gas permitiendo abrir un nuevo pozo en Sotes". El Economista (Spain). 22 March 2022. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
- ^ Sergio Muñoz González (24 March 2022). "70 años de gas y 20 de petróleo: ¿por qué España no explota sus reservas?". COPE. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
El Ilustre Colegio Oficial de Geólogos (ICOG) explica que España tiene recursos en su subsuelo para abastecer al país 70 años con gas natural y 20 años de petróleo
- ^ H. MONTERO (13 March 2022). "El gas para 70 años que España no quiere explotar". La Razón (Madrid) (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 May 2023.
En 2040, el año de mayor producción estimada y de permitirse la explotación, el impacto sobre el PIB de los recursos propios de hidrocarburos equivaldría a uno 44.400 millones de euros, mayor que el de otras actividades como el transporte o el sector primario [...] todo el gas que albergaba España conforme a una probabilidad de extracción del 50% tenía un valor de 700.000 millones de euros, mientras que el petróleo tiene un valor de 150.000 millones
- ^ Almudena Martínez-Fornés (21 March 2022). "España dispone de gas para 40 años pero está prohibida su extracción". ABC (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2022-03-25. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
En el subsuelo español está enterrado un tesoro de unos 1.300 bcm –1,3 billones de metros cúbicos– de gas, lo que equivale a cerca de 40 años de consumo al ritmo actual, según un estudio del Consejo Superior de Colegios de Ingenieros de Minas
- ^ Jorge Navarro Comet; Octavio Puche Riart (2018). "A century of hydrocarbon exploration and production in Spain (1860–1960)". Special Publications of the Geological Society. 465. London: Geological Society of London: 345–360. doi:10.1144/SP465.10. S2CID 219204077. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
- ^ Jorge Navarro Comet (1 January 2018). "Ayoluengo's history – Spain's only onshore oil field". Geological Society, London, Special Publications. 465 (1): 333–344. Bibcode:2018GSLSP.465..333N. doi:10.1144/SP465.9. S2CID 219204104. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
- ^ Mercedes R. Martín (3 May 2022). "La agonía de la búsqueda de petróleo y gas en España: desidia, burocracia y "desesperación"". Libertad Digital (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 May 2023.
En Ayoluengo [...] noviembre de 2018 la compañía recibió una notificación para que desmantelara sus instalaciones. En el Mediterráneo, mientras, en junio del año pasado se cerró la producción en la plataforma Casablanca, la última que extraía petróleo en España
- ^ Katarzyna Dybkowska. "The hidden treasure: locations of shale oil resources". Gaz i ropa z formacji łupkowych. Polish Geological Survey • National Research Institute. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
In Spain, oil condensate occurs in the Basque-Cantabrian Basin within Liassic (Lower Jurassic) marine sediments