Items:
1. Coal does not grow food from the ground, nor carry it to shelves.
2) The world of reserves is and always has been nearly entirely opaque. They vary by price, by the definition of oil (yes, it does vary), and by label (meaning “oil” vs “crude” vs oil equivalent). It’s usually best not to obsess over reserves.
3) The planet’s radius is 4000ish miles. We only drill down about 30,000 feet, or 6 miles for oil. Why? Because the temperature rises and hydrocarbons stop being oil and start being gas.
4) Iraq and Iran still have laws on the books. If either declares a new amount of reserves, the other makes the same declaration. Regardless of exploration budget. Why? OPEC production quota depends on reserves. Yet another reason to not obsess over reserves numbers.
“1. Coal does not grow food from the ground, nor carry it to shelves.“
Weren’t they making gasoline or diesel from coal back during WWll?