This new 129-page report explains the current and potential of the Unconventional Gas market including country profiles, major project case studies, and new technology research.

You'll learn who the major players in the market are, and what their current and forecasted projects are, as well as current volume and anticipated output for specific projects.

You'll also get a list of conversion factors as well as a glossary of terms.


Excerpt:

Over the past several decades, there have been a number of different ways to define unconventional natural gas. Often, the distinction between conventional and unconventional gas resources has been made on the basis of economics. Commonly, uneconomic or marginally economic resources such as tight (low permeability) sandstones, shale gas, and Coalbed Methane (CBM) are considered unconventional. However, due to continued research and favorable gas prices, many previously uneconomic or marginally economic gas resources are now economically viable, and may not be considered unconventional by some companies.

Unconventional gas resources are geologically distinct in that conventional gas resources are buoyancy-driven deposits, occurring as discrete accumulations in structural or stratigraphic traps, whereas unconventional gas resources are generally not buoyancy-driven deposits. They are regionally pervasive accumulations, most commonly independent of structural or stratigraphic traps.
The unconventional natural gas category (CBM, gas shales, tight sands, and landfill) is expected to continue at double-digit growth levels in the near term. Until 2008, demand for unconventional natural gas is likely to increase at an AAGR corresponding to 10.7% from 2003, aided by prioritized research and development efforts.

The disparity between projected increases for natural gas consumption in mature market economies and the much smaller increases expected for production in these markets points to an increasing world dependence on transitional and emerging market gas production.
Natural gas from unconventional reservoirs is being targeted to contribute a greater share of the world's natural gas supplies in the next two decades. Independent producers are helping develop many of the new technologies and well-site strategies to ensure that as much unconventional gas as possible will be available when it's needed.

Extracting more gas from unconventional resources will require significant improvements in exploration and production technology. New drilling technologies contributing to the efficiency of unconventional gas reservoir development and redevelopment include horizontal drilling, improvements to bits, and better drill pipe.

Although unconventional gas resources are abundant, they are generally more costly to produce. Their exploitation was boosted in the late 1980s and early 1990s with the successful implementation of tax incentives designed to encourage their development. Since then, technological development has contributed to continued production growth, even in the absence of tax incentives (which generally are unavailable for production from wells drilled after December 31, 1992). Indeed, increasing production from unconventional gas resources has actually offset a decline in conventional gas production in recent years...


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Publication Date: Rev.: July 2008
Publisher: Energy Business Reports