7. With respect to oil and natural gas deposits, of the 600 sedinentary basinswhich are considered to represent the prospective areas for hydrocarbons in therorld' excluding deep offshore basins, 160 basins have been fairly intensivelyexplored and are currently producing oiI and gas; 240 have ueen partially expioreaand have not been producing oil or natural gas; and 200 remain essentiallyunexplored. 2/ of the total prospective area, 47 oer cent is located in ievelopingcountries, includino China. 3/ Furthermore, even though significant explorationand development activities n-ave been undertaken in auout ar" atrirJ" ";;;- prospective area located in developing countries, it has been estimated that, inthe developing countries not members of the organization of petrol"u. n*poitingCountries (OPEC), over 40 per cent of the prospeetive area is located in55 countries where only initial or fragmentary exploration has taken p1aee. 4/ 8. of the estinated 2,670 billion barrels of ultirnate recoverable oil resourcesof the world, 1,583 billion barrels, or 59 per cent, 5/ are located in developingcountries, and of the 572 bitlion barrels of proved rEcoverable resourees of lne-world, 78 per cent are located in these countries. G,/ The giant oil and gasfields - those containing nore than 500 rnillion bariels of oi1 and about 3 trillioncubic feet of gas - contain three guarters of the known recoverable reserves. ItA/40/5rr Enqlish Page 5 has been stated, however, that the significance of snall fields has been greatlv underestimated, 7/ especially in terms of the needs of developinq countries. The technology of exFtoiting small deposits has been developed and applied widely during the past decade. Since many srnall hydrocarbon deposits are shallow and could be explored, developed and put into production within a relatively short tirne, the initial capital reguirenent would be smaller, and smaller enterprises could participate in their exploration and development. Bioqenic gas has been found in shallow pockets in the deltaic regions of Africa and Asia. 8/ Significant amounts of nethane have been located at a <lepth of aboutl5OO metres in river deltas on these continents, manv in densely populated rural areas that are chronically short of energy for meeting both subsistence and developmental needs' In sucb cases, however, it would be necessarv to develop seisnic and electrical
**Analysis**
The text primarily discusses the exploration, development, and production of oil and natural gas resources, highlighting the significant proportion of these resources found in developing countries. The text also touches on the potential of small hydrocarbon deposits, biogenic gas, and the technological advancements in extracting these resources. The focus is on the availability and utilization of natural resources, particularly in developing countries.

**Category**
Natural resources and environment, Industry