Approximately how many barrels were contained by the Daqing Field when it was discovered?

Approximately how many barrels were contained by the Daqing Field when it was discovered?

• A. 8 billion barrels
• B. 32 billion barrels
• C. 4 billion barrels
• D. 16 billion barrels

Answer: (D)

Oil-field size estimates at discovery are often given as oil in place, not yet proven recoverable reserves, and these in-place figures can be much larger than what’s later produced. For the Daqing field, the early, widely cited estimate was about 16 billion barrels of oil in place at the time it was discovered. That makes the option of 16 billion barrels the best answer among the choices, since it reflects the scale described in the historical discovery context. The other numbers don’t fit the common discovery-scale figure: 4 billion barrels is a smaller, later-revised estimate of recoverable reserves rather than the initial in-place total; 8 and 32 billion barrels are not the standard early-discovery figures cited for Daqing.

Oil-field size estimates at discovery are often given as oil in place, not yet proven recoverable reserves, and these in-place figures can be much larger than what’s later produced. For the Daqing field, the early, widely cited estimate was about 16 billion barrels of oil in place at the time it was discovered. That makes the option of 16 billion barrels the best answer among the choices, since it reflects the scale described in the historical discovery context.

The other numbers don’t fit the common discovery-scale figure: 4 billion barrels is a smaller, later-revised estimate of recoverable reserves rather than the initial in-place total; 8 and 32 billion barrels are not the standard early-discovery figures cited for Daqing.