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What is Unconventional Gas?

Types of Unconventional Gas Unconventional Gas in North America

Types of Unconventional Gas

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Gas Shales

Gas shales is natural gas stored in organic rich rocks such as dark-coloured shale; wherein the recoverable gas is interbedded with layers of shaley siltstone and sandstone. Gas shales are formed from the mud of shallow seas that existed about 350 million years ago. Shale is a very fine-grained sedimentary rock that may be easily broken into thin layers, and though it is a very soft rock, it does not disintegrate when it becomes wet. These shales often contain natural gas, when two thick black shale deposits 'sandwich' a thinner area of shale. Shale gas may also be produced through naturally-occurring fractures in shale, which allows gas to flow through the rock.

Tight Gas

Tight Gas is gas that is "stuck" in a very tight formation underground, stored within low porosity and low permeability rock formations. A great deal of effort has to be put into extracting gas from a tight formation, such as fracturing and acidizing. Tight gas makes up a significant portion of North America's natural gas resource base, representing an extremely important portion of natural gas resources.

Coalbed Methane (CBM)

Coalbed methane, quite simply, is natural gas contained in coal. Coalbed methane consists primarily of methane (the gas we use for home heating). This form of natural gas is primarily stored through absorption to the coal itself rather than within the pore space of the rock, like most "conventional" gas.

Gas Hydrates

Gas hydrates, also known as clathrates, are frozen, crystalline solids that form at the low temperatures and high pressures found within deep-sea areas, and in colder environments like the Arctic in Canada. Hydrates contain gas molecules (usually methane) surrounded by a "cage" of water molecules. Hydrates are formed when water molecules attach themselves together and form a "cage", inside which a single gas or liquid may occupy.

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Unconventional Gas in North America

Canadian Unconventional Gas Potential is Huge

Resource estimates are over 2,000 Tcf, excluding hydrates

Current Canadian production is ~6 Tcf/yr, about the same as the unconventional gas production in the United States
Canada uses about 3 Tcf/yr domestically

Current unconventional production is not accurately tracked (~5 Bcf/D), but is growing
Reserved potential is uncertain, but large

Using United States analogy, reserves potential is >190 Tcf
Conventional Canadian gas reserves are <70 Tcf
National Energy Board (NEB) estimates 75 Tcf recoverable gas from coals alone

United States is the world leader in Unconventional Gas

Unconventional Gas Resource Estimates are

Tight Sand: 1200+ Tcf
Coalbed Methane: 1200+ Tcf
Shale Gas: 1100+ Tcf

Current United States unconventional gas production is 6 TCF/D or over 30% of total United States gas production

Unconventional Gas production is growing while conventional gas is mature and declining so the future of the gas industry is Unconventional

The total scope of gas resources can be viewed as a mountain, wherein conventional gas is the "peak". Though it is relatively easy to extract, there is a small supply available. There is much larger supply of unconventional gas, which makes up the base of the mountain, but it is more difficult to extract. As development of gas continues, we are moving "down the mountain" and developing more unconventional resources.

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1000 Bcf = 1 Tcf

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