Unconventional Natural Gas

Abstract

The natural gas industry, manufacturing entities, utilities and consumers have rebounded from the specter of dwindling resources and foreign dependency to a situation characterized currently by an oversupply and future potential for export outside of the United States. This dramatic rebound has occurred during the past two decades, mainly because technical protocols have been refined to develop extensive, ultralow permeability formations – that is, production from shales. In this chapter, a description is provided of these low‐permeability resources, contrasting them with higher‐permeability reservoirs to which the natural gas industry is more accustomed. Methods for recovery of the resource, particularly hydraulic fracturing, are highlighted and methods for surface handling and delivery to a pipeline for transportation are described.