THE PETROLEUM DATASET CODEBOOK

The PETRODATA codebook describes a global dataset of onshore and offshore hydrocarbon reserves covering 1946–2003. It explains the transition from point data to generalized polygons to make the data practical for GIS analysis and conflict research, and defines 20 variables including discovery and production years.

• PETRODATA is a global dataset of oil and gas fields designed for use in geographic information systems (GIS) to study the link between natural resource endowment and armed civil conflict.
• The dataset covers the period from 1946 to 2003 and includes 1,262 total records—884 for onshore and 378 for offshore occurrences—across 114 countries.
• To ensure the data was practical for conflict research and not overly detailed, point locations were generalized into polygons by applying a uniform buffer distance of 30,000 projected meters (30 km) and merging overlapping buffers.
• The dataset excludes solid hydrocarbons like coal, focusing exclusively on natural gas and crude oil.
• Data was aggregated from multiple sources, including the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the Earth Sciences and Resources Institute at the University of South Carolina, the World Energy Atlas by Petroleum Economist, and various internet sources.
• The dataset utilizes a specific coding structure for countries to ensure compatibility with the Uppsala/PRIO Armed Conflict Dataset, employing Correlates of War (COW) numbers.

APA

Thieme, N., Rød, J. K., & Lujala, P. (n.d.). THE PETROLEUM DATASET CODEBOOK. Peace Research Institute Oslo. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/080f8241-764b-49ab-bc22-137597955051/PETRODATA v12 Codebook.pdf?inline=true

Chicago

Thieme, Nadja, Jan Ketil Rød, and Päivi Lujala. THE PETROLEUM DATASET CODEBOOK. Peace Research Institute Oslo, n.d. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/080f8241-764b-49ab-bc22-137597955051/PETRODATA v12 Codebook.pdf?inline=true.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Thieme |first1=Nadja |last2=Rød |first2=Jan Ketil |last3=Lujala |first3=Päivi |title=THE PETROLEUM DATASET CODEBOOK |publisher=Peace Research Institute Oslo |url=https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/080f8241-764b-49ab-bc22-137597955051/PETRODATA v12 Codebook.pdf?inline=true |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{thiemendpetroleum, author = {Thieme, Nadja and Rød, Jan Ketil and Lujala, Päivi}, title = {{THE PETROLEUM DATASET CODEBOOK}}, institution = {Peace Research Institute Oslo}, url = {https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/080f8241-764b-49ab-bc22-137597955051/PETRODATA v12 Codebook.pdf?inline=true}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }