--> ABSTRACT: Global Gas Resources, by Francis Harper; #90906(2001)

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Francis Harper1

(1) BP, Gerrards Cross, Bucks, United Kingdom

ABSTRACT: Global Gas Resources

Current global gas production is about 80 tcf per year, dominated by the USA and Russia. Since interregional trade is still limited, regional consumption tends to mirror regional production with the exception of Europe which imports substantial gas volumes. With the rise in LNG trade, and the building of long-range pipelines, such interregional trades are likely to expand significantly. Where will these volumes come from?

It is estimated that about 7750 tcf of gas has been found to date of which over 5000 tcf remains to be produced. Some of this is in stranded gas in areas remote from infrastructure but as technology and markets develop, most of this is expected to be commercialised in the next couple of decades. Perhaps a similar volume remains to be discovered, both from old hydrocarbon provinces and from new ones. In the 1990s, while many new discoveries were made in long-established productive areas such as the NW Shelf of Australia and the Zagros trend, several new provinces were discovered, for example the Bintuni Basin of E. Indonesia and the Devonian of the Bolivian Chaco.

There are other sources to feed the future gas demand. The potential for reserves growth from existing fields is not as great as that for oil but is still expected to be significant. And the non-conventional gas resources could add substantially more volumes; the most important of these in the short to medium term are coal-bed methane and tight gas resources but gas hydrates could dominate in the longer term.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90906©2001 AAPG Annual Convention, Denver, Colorado