Unconventional Shale Gas Exploration – An Economic Resource for Natural Gas Production

P26 UNCONVENTIONAL SHALE GAS EXPLORATION – AN ECONOMIC RESOURCE FOR NATURAL GAS PRODUCTION Unconventional gas resources are an underutilized strategic resource for countries and exploration companies alike. These producible hydrocarbon resources are often ignored except for their hydrocarbon source potential for conventional reservoirs. Unconventional shale gas is one such resource. Intervals through sili-clastic source rocks often have demonstrable amounts of “shale gas” and this is indeed an indication of the possibility of production from these shales. 1 These resources are classified as unconventional based on their very low permeability (<1 mD) the absence of conventional traps their continuous nature and