Climate Change Threatens Global Oil and Gas Reserves

Risk consulting firm Verisk Maplecroft stated on Thursday that large quantities of the world's oil and gas reserves are at risk from rising tides, storms, flooding, and extreme temperature increases due to climate change. The UK-based company mentioned in a research note that access to the equivalent of 600 billion barrels, or 40%, of the global extractable oil and gas reserves could be affected by severe weather. The sector has been impacted by climate change this year when severe cold weather hit the U.S. oil, gas, and refining hub on the Gulf Coast, causing prolonged outages and reduced production. Rory Clisby, an environmental analyst at Verisk Maplecroft, noted, "Such events will become more frequent and intense, creating larger shocks in the sector." Just over 10% of the global extractable commercial reserves are located in areas classified by the consulting firm as extremely hazardous, while about a third are in regions deemed high risk.