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SUPPLEMENTAL OIL AND GAS INFORMATION
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2012
SUPPLEMENTAL OIL AND GAS INFORMATION

MURPHY OIL CORPORATION AND CONSOLIDATED SUBSIDIARIES

SUPPLEMENTAL OIL AND GAS INFORMATION (UNAUDITED)

The following unaudited schedules are presented in accordance with required disclosures about Oil and Gas Producing Activities to provide users with a common base for preparing estimates of future cash flows and comparing reserves among companies. Additional background information follows concerning four of the schedules.

SCHEDULE 1 – SUMMARY OF PROVED OIL RESERVES AND SCHEDULE 2 – SUMMARY OF PROVED NATURAL GAS RESERVES – Reserves of crude oil, condensate, natural gas liquids, natural gas and synthetic oil are estimated by the Company’s or independent engineers and are adjusted to reflect contractual arrangements and royalty rates in effect at the end of each year. Many assumptions and judgmental decisions are required to estimate reserves. Reported quantities are subject to future revisions, some of which may be substantial, as additional information becomes available from reservoir performance, new geological and geophysical data, additional drilling, technological advancements, price changes and other economic factors.

Murphy has utilized reliable geologic and engineering technology in 2011 and 2012 to include proved undeveloped reserves more than one location from producing wells in the more developed portions of the Eagle Ford Shale. The study incorporated public and proprietary data from multiple sources and encompassed the entire basin. This included analysis of seismic data, well log data, test production and fluids properties to establish geologic consistency as well as significant statistical performance data yielding predictable and repeatable reserve estimates within certain analogous areas. These locations were limited to only those areas with both established geologic consistency and sufficient statistical performance data where such data could be demonstrated to provide reasonably certain results.

Murphy includes synthetic crude oil from its 5% interest in the Syncrude project in Alberta, Canada in its proved oil reserves. This operation involves a process of mining tar sands and converting the raw bitumen into a pipeline-quality crude. The proved reserves associated with this project are estimated through a combination of core-hole drilling and realized process efficiencies. The high-density core-hole drilling, at a spacing of less than 500 meters (proved area), provides engineering and geologic data needed to estimate the volumes of tar sand in place and its associated bitumen content. The bitumen generally constitutes approximately 10% of the total bulk tar sand that is mined. The bitumen extraction process is fairly efficient and removes about 90% of the bitumen that is contained within the tar sand. The final step of the process converts the 8.4° API bitumen into 30°-34° API crude oil. A catalytic cracking process is used to crack the long hydrocarbon chains into shorter ones yielding a final crude oil that can be shipped via pipelines. The cracking process has an efficiency ranging from 85% to 90%. Overall, it takes approximately two metric tons of oil sand to produce one barrel of synthetic crude oil. All synthetic oil volumes reported as proved reserves in Schedule 1 are the final synthetic crude oil product.

Production quantities shown are net volumes withdrawn from reservoirs. These may differ from sales quantities due to inventory changes, volumes consumed for fuel and/or shrinkage from extraction of natural gas liquids. Proved oil reserves shown in Schedule 1 include insignificant volumes of natural gas liquids.

Oil and natural gas reserves in Malaysia are associated with production sharing contracts for Blocks SK 309/311 and K. Malaysia reserves include oil and gas to be received for both cost recovery and profit provisions under the contracts. Oil and natural gas proved reserves associated with the production sharing contracts in Malaysia totaled 95.7 million barrels and 357.6 billion cubic feet, respectively, at December 31, 2012. Approximately 72.8 billion cubic feet of natural gas proved reserves in Malaysia relate to fields in Block K for which the Company expects to receive sale proceeds of approximately $0.24 per thousand cubic feet.

SCHEDULE 4 – RESULTS OF OPERATIONS FOR OIL AND GAS PRODUCING ACTIVITIES – Results of operations from exploration and production activities by geographic area are reported as if these activities were not part of an operation that also refines crude oil and sells refined products.

 

SCHEDULE 5 – STANDARDIZED MEASURE OF DISCOUNTED FUTURE NET CASH FLOWS RELATING TO PROVED OIL AND GAS RESERVES – Generally accepted accounting principles require calculation of future net cash flows using a 10% annual discount factor, an unweighted average of oil and natural gas prices in effect at the beginning of each month of the year, and year-end costs and statutory tax rates, except for known future changes such as contracted prices and legislated tax rates.

The reported value of proved reserves is not necessarily indicative of either fair market value or present value of future cash flows because prices, costs and governmental policies do not remain static; appropriate discount rates may vary; and extensive judgment is required to estimate the timing of production. Other logical assumptions would likely have resulted in significantly different amounts.

Schedule 5 also presents the principal reasons for change in the standardized measure of discounted future net cash flows for each of the three years ended December 31, 2012.