Shale Gas - The Beginning of Unconventional Hydrocarbons

The world is facing two major energy problems - climate change and peak oil. The depleting oilfields are on the rise. Oil companies are going farther into the ocean to dig deeper in their quest for the fossil fuels. Some have even started their exploration activities in the Arctic Ocean and the Polar regions. Difficult geographical locations increase the costs of the operations for the exploration companies resulting in higher production cost. In the near future, shale gas can ease the demand pressure for conventional natural gas. Generally, natural gas prices follow the crude oil price but the recent past has seen the natural gas price peak, renewing the interest in development of unconventional gas resources, such as coal-bed methane, tight gas, and shale gas. The global energy landscape is switching in favor of gas is now confirmed by developments at the energy majors. Shale gas has just begun to touch the world's energy balance and shale gas is just the beginning of unconventional hydrocarbons. This paper illustrates the possibility of Shale Gas commercialization, the challenges in its findings and its economical implications as a replacement of conventional domestic piped or LNG gas