Registration document 2011 - tota - Total.com

1.3. Proved undeveloped reserves
As of December 31, 2011, TOTAL’s combined proved undeveloped
reserves of oil and gas were 5,377 Mboe as compared to 4,987 Mboe
at the end of 2010. The net increase of 390 Mboe of proved
undeveloped reserves is due to the addition of +639 Mboe of
undeveloped reserves related to extensions and discoveries, a net
increase of +401 Mboe due to acquisitions/divestitures, the revision
of -168 Mboe of previous estimates (partly resulting from negative
price effects), and the transfer of 482 Mboe from proved
undeveloped reserves to proved developed reserves. In 2011,
the costs incurred to develop proved undeveloped reserves (PUDs)
was €10.2 billion, which represents 84% of 2011 development
costs incurred, and was related to projects located for the most
part in Angola, Australia, Canada, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Norway,
United Kingdom and Russia.
Approximately 57% of the Group’s proved undeveloped reserves
are associated with producing projects and are located for the most
part in Angola, Canada, Nigeria, Norway, and Venezuela. These
reserves are expected to be developed over time as part of initial
field development plans or additional development phases.
The timing to bring these proved reserves into production will
depend upon several factors including reservoir performance,
surface facilities or plant capacity constraints and contractual
limitations on production level. The remaining proved undeveloped
reserves correspond to undeveloped fields or assets for which
a development has been sanctioned or is in progress.
The Group’s portfolio of projects includes a few large scale and
complex developments for which it anticipates that it may take
more than five years from the time of recording proved reserves
to the start of production. These specific projects represent
approximately 26% of the Group’s proved undeveloped reserves
and include the development of a giant field in Kazakhstan, deep
1.4. Estimated proved reserves of oil, bitumen and gas reserves
The following tables present, for oil, bitumen and gas reserves,
an estimate of the Group’s oil, bitumen and gas quantities by
geographic areas as of December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009.
Quantities shown concern proved developed and undeveloped
reserves together with changes in quantities for 2011, 2010
and 2009.
The definitions used for proved, proved developed and proved
undeveloped oil and gas reserves are in accordance with the
revised Rule 4-10 of SEC Regulation S-X.
Supplemental oil and gas information (unaudited) 10
Oil and gas information pursuant to FASB Accounting Standards Codification 932
offshore developments in Angola, Nigeria and the United Kingdom
and development of oil sands in Canada. These projects are highly
complex to develop due to a combination of factors that include,
among others, the nature of the reservoir rock and fluid properties,
challenging operating environments and the size of the projects.
In addition, some of these projects are generally designed and
optimized for a given production capacity that controls the pace at
which the field is developed and the wells are drilled. At production
start-up, only a portion of the proved reserves are developed
in order to deliver sufficient production potential to meet capacity
constraints and contractual obligations. The remaining PUD’s
associated with the complete development plan will therefore
remain undeveloped for more than five years following project
approval and booking. Under these specific circumstances,
the Group believes that it is justified to report as proved reserves
the level of reserves used in connection with the approved project,
despite the fact that some of these PUDs may remain undeveloped
for more than five years. In addition, TOTAL has demonstrated in
recent years the Group’s ability to successfully develop and bring
into production similar large scale and complex projects, including
the development of deep-offshore fields in Angola, Nigeria, the
Republic of Congo, HP/HT fields in the United Kingdom, heavy oil
projects in Venezuela and LNG projects in Qatar, Yemen, Nigeria
and Indonesia.
Information shown in the following tables is presented in
accordance with the FASB’s ASC 932 and the requirements of
the SEC Regulation S-K (Items 1200 to 1208).
The tables provided below are presented by the following
geographic areas: Europe, Africa, the Americas, Middle East
and Asia (including CIS).
All references in the following tables to reserves or production
are to the Group’s entire share of such reserves or production.
TOTAL’s worldwide proved reserves include the proved reserves
of its consolidated subsidiaries as well as its proportionate share
of the proved reserves of equity affiliates.
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