(92a) Unconventional Natural Gas How Much At What Cost?

Unconventional gas reservoirs (UGRs) are low quality reservoirs that have to be stimulated to produce gas at commercial flow rates.   Well stimulation can occur by drilling horizontal wells and then hydraulically fracture treating the horizontal well. In this presentation, I will discuss the prospects of finding unconventional gas reservoirs in virtually every basin in the world and how the industry can use existing technology to begin to unlock those resources.  In fact, most of the reservoirs undergoing development in 2011 in the United States have been thought of as source rocks for the past century.  The source rocks are now the most important reservoirs, thanks to technology.

The presentation will first cover how natural resources are distributed in nature and how gas production from fields in North America increases every time there is an increase in gas price or there is a technology breakthrough.    We will discuss the possibilities of producing gas from UGRs in virtually every hydrocarbon basin in the world during the 21^st Century.  Finally, I will discuss how the economic recovery of gas from UGRs is directly affected by new developments in technology, gas prices and finding and development costs.