Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Oil, gas and coal operations · Multiple (OPEC) · 1985–1990

OPEC members' declared oil reserves jumped in the late 1980s

Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 2 none on record · 1 insufficient · 1 not measured See the gaps

Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, Iraq and Saudi Arabia raised declared oil reserves sharply between 1985 and 1990, when OPEC quotas took reserves into account and no major discovery was made. The sources reviewed do not link these figures to any measured environmental effect.

What?
Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, Iraq and Saudi Arabia sharply raised declared oil reserves in 1985 to 1990, when OPEC quotas were linked to declared reserves. GEO ExPro
Where?
Persian Gulf OPEC members: Kuwait, Abu Dhabi (UAE), Iraq and Saudi Arabia GEO ExPro
When?
1985 to 1990 GEO ExPro
Who?
Gained
  • OPEC member governments — Production quotas took declared reserves into account, so higher declarations counted toward quotas
Lost
None on record
Harmed
None on record
Why?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
OPEC took reserves into account when setting production quotas; the increases came without major new discoveries and while prices were falling. GEO ExPro
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

According to GEO ExPro, between 1985 and 1990 Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, Iraq and Saudi Arabia raised declared reserves by between 40 percent and three times, while prices were falling and no major new discovery was made.

GEO ExPro reported that Kuwait's reserves rose from 64 to 66 billion barrels to 90 billion in 1985, Abu Dhabi's from 30 billion to more than 90 billion in 1988, and Saudi Arabia's from 170 billion to 258 billion in 1989 and 1990.

In leaked US diplomatic cables from November 2007, a former Aramco executive said Saudi reserves could be overstated by up to 300 billion barrels.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Record

    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: OPEC's total declared reserves rose from 425 billion to 763 billion barrels between 1980 and 1990.
    • None on record A counter view holds that some of the increases reflected data published for the first time; the sources reviewed do not settle this.
    • None on record The leaked-cable claim about Saudi reserves is not checked against field data in the sources reviewed.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

    Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers

    Press and investigations

    1. Do OPEC reserves figures matter?
      GEO ExPro · 2007-11-06

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