Exploration and production issues in South Asia

The rapid depletion of the conventional oil resources combined with the regional unrests and skyrocketing crude oil prices have paved way for unconventional oil and gas resources to emerge as the latest game changer in the world energy scenario. Unconventional resources though discovered about a century back never gained momentum due to the complexities of the technologies involved and more primarily due to the readily available conventional sources. The south Asian countries are heavily dependent on their oil imports from the Middle East nations. Due to the increasing instability in the rise of oil prices coupled with regional instability, these nations should invest in production of alternate resources to meet their future energy requirements. In the present day scenario, unconventional resources should be considered as a bridging option between rapidly depleting conventional resources and the nascent upcoming renewable and thorium (nuclear) based energy sources.