Editor's Note: R. R. Lindsly, with Phillips Petroleum Co. in Bartlesville, Okla., heads one of SPE's hardest-working but least-publicized standing committees. As chairman and domestic vice-chairman of the Society's Production Review Committee for 1965, Lindsly has collaborated with Foreign Vice-Chairman James E. Fender, of Mobil International Oil in New York City, to gather vital data from throughout the Free World for inclusion in IOSA's INTERNATIONAL OIL AND GAS DEVELOPMENT, YEAR BOOK 1965, a two-part volume covering worldwide exploration and production during 1964. The following article by Lindsly will appear in Part 2 on Production, expected to be available for sale in early December. Introduction The petroleum industry supplies approximately 74 per cent of the nation's energy requirements, and its domestic capital expenditures total more than $6 billion annually. The producing segment of the industry accounts for around 65 per cent of these capital expenditures, and domestic production amounts to approximately 80 per cent of the nation's liquid raw material supply. The producing industry, which is important to national security, had reserve producing capacity Jan. 1, 1965, of approximately 2.8 million B/D of crude oil and natural gas liquids, based on IPAA estimates. The productive capacity of natural gas on Jan. 1, 1964, as estimated by NPC in its 1965 report, indicates 57.7 billion cu ft/day of capacity over and above the average production for 1963.Total petroleum demand in 1964 averaged 11.06 million B/D, up 302,000 bbl, or 2.8 per cent from 1963.Gasoline, which makes up approximately 42 per cent of demand, experienced a healthy 4.2 per cent increase. Total petroleum supply in 1964 averaged 11,071,000 B/D. of this total, domestic crude production (69.2 per cent of supply) averaged 7,664,000 B/D, up 1.6 per cent; natural gas liquids production (10.4 per cent of supply) averaged 1,147,000 B/D, up 4.5 per cent; and imports of crude and products (20.4 per cent of supply) averaged 2,260,000 B/D, up 6.5 per cent from 1963.Demand for natural gas continued its upward trend in 1964 as reflected by production, which totaled 15.3 trillion cu ft, or 5.5 per cent increase over the 14.5 trillion cu ft produced in 1963.Fig. 1 shows supply trends of petroleum and natural gas for the past 10 years (1955 to 1964). Reserves To supply the ever-increasing demand for petroleum and natural gas, adequate reserves must be maintained through continuous exploratory efforts, development drilling, and improved recovery techniques. Therefore, it is pertinent to note the changes in underground inventory during 1964.Proved reserves of crude oil at year-end 1964 stood at 31 billion bbl, up less than 0.1 per cent from the previous year. This upturn, though slight, contrasts with a net decrease in crude reserves in three of the four previous years. JPT P. 889ˆ