RE: $ 100 Billion Asset (LFD)What is oil in place?
Oil in place is the total hydrocarbon content of an oil reservoir and is often abbreviated STOOIP, which stands for Stock Tank Original Oil In Place, or STOIIP for Stock Tank Oil Initially In Place, referring to the oil in place before the commencement of production. In this case, stock tank refers to the storage vessel (often purely notional) containing the oil after production.
Oil in place must not be confused with oil reserves, that are the technically and economically recoverable portion of oil volume in the reservoir. Current recovery factors for oil fields around the world typically range between 10 and 60 percent; some are over 80 percent. The wide variance is due largely to the diversity of fluid and reservoir characteristics for different deposits.
You cannot value a company based on oil in place, because there are factors that detemine the oil reserves(i.e. recovery), and reserves are what you value a company on.