Unconventional oil and gas resource development – Let’s do it right

The resource triangle can be used to describe the distribution of natural gas resources in all basins in the world. We have studied 25 basins in North America and conclude that over 90% of the technically recoverable resources (TRR) in natural gas formations can be found in unconventional reservoirs. We believe these statistics can be extrapolated to every basin in the world that produces substantial volumes of oil and gas. In fact, we have estimated that the world has over 57,000 Tcf of TRR in these basins. Not all of the TRR is economically recoverable because of gas prices, costs and other issues, such as lack of infrastructure, but the gas is there and can be produced in the future. However, the oil and gas industry must follow basic guidelines to ensure safety and environmental awareness as it develops these resources over the coming decades.