Impacts of Technology on the Global Gas Resource Base. Digital Download

RI0223D. Impacts of Technology on the Global Gas Resource Base: Proceedings of the Global Gas Resources Workshop. C. L. Ruthven, Editor. 217 p., 118 figs., 32 tables, 1 appendix, 1994. doi.org/10.23867/RI0223D.  Downloadable PDF (68 MB).


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Workshop Consensus
There was a consensus that technology has in the past reduced, and will continue in the future to reduce, exploration and production costs. In the United States, for example, rigorous application of technology has resulted in the last decade or so in essentially flat supply cost projections. The relatively stable supply costs are due to technology and its impact in reducing production costs (William L. Fisher, "The U.S. Experience in Natural Gas: Revitalization of a Resource Base Thought Exhausted, this volume). It was also agreed that technology will play a key role in Europe in reducing production costs to allow European gas to remain competitive with imports of gas from the former Soviet Union and Algeria.

Another point of consensus was that natural gas technology cannot be examined in isolation. Advances in the technologies of other fuels can also be expected. If natural gas is to provide an increasing share of the total fuel mix worldwide, further advances in natural gas technology must be pursued to establish and maintain a competitive position for natural gas.

Advanced technology cannot be assumed or taken for granted; it must be aggressively developed and incorporated into strategic planning in the private and public sectors. Research has to be pursued and the resulting advances in technology development must be applied. If research is not pursued and technology is not applied, the benefits of this increased knowledge are not captured and fully realized (Gustavo Inciarte, "Natural Gas Technology: A Context for the 21st Century," this volume).

The discussions showed that technology and research methods must be refined to adapt to the specific geologic and geographic conditions of each country. Technology must be adapted to accommodate widely divergent conditions, from the harsh, cold climate of Siberia in Russia and the Arctic in Canada to the deserts of China and Africa. Increased international cooperation in the exchange of information, ideas, and technology transfer will facilitate the adaptation of technology to meet the specific requirements of countries around the world.

Results of the assessment indicate that, in all seven regions, the impact of technology will be positive and will increase the resource base. Therefore, the model of natural gas as a limited or diminishing resource is not an appropriate one to guide policy decisions and strategic planning. For the foreseeable future, countries should not limit the use of natural gas because of a concern for resource exhaustion. However, although the global natural gas resource base is huge, the conversion of this resource into producible reserves cannot be assumed. Substantial investment in further advances in natural gas exploration and production technology and developments in other areas such as transportation infrastructure will have to occur before this resource will be fully realized.

Keywords: natural gas, oil and gas, gas resources, resource estimation, technology development, energy resources, resource assessment

CONTENTS

Editor's Note on Units of Measurement

Workshop Consensus
William L. Fisher, Aksel Hauge Pedersen, and Robert B. Rosenberg

Assessment of the Impacts of Technology on the Global Gas Resource Base
Carol L. Ruthven

World Resources of Conventional Natural Gas
Charles D. Masters, Emil D. Attanasi, and David H. Root

Global Nonconventional Natural Gas Resources
Vello A. Kuuskraa

Evolution of and Outlook for Natural Gas in Latin America and the Caribbean
Francisco J. Gutierrez

The Significance of Gas in the Former Soviet Union
Paul Ellis

Natural Gas Technology: A Context for the 21st Century
Gustavo lnciarte

The U.S. Experience in Natural Gas: Revitalization of a Resource Base Thought Exhausted
William L. Fisher

An Analysis of the Canadian Natural Gas Resource Base
S. Bruce Young and Kenneth J. Drummond

The Natural Gas Resources of Mexico
Richard Nehring

Application of Technology to Coalbed Methane Resources
Richard McBane

The Dynamic Impact of Technological Advance on Gas Reserves: A Paradigm Shift in North American Natural Gas Supply Research
Carl Calantone

Natural Gas in the Middle East
Gerald J. Kepes

Development, Petroleum, and the Arab Middle East
Dorothea H. El Mallakh

Regional Geology of the Persian Gulf and Iran
Ali Golestaneh

Gas Reserves and Gas Potential, North Sea, Norwegian Sea, and Barents Sea Basins
lvar B. Ramberg

Gas Resources of the United Kingdom
Peter M. Haile

Natural Gas in Italy: An Example of a Mature Area
Gustavo Sclocchi

Regional Prospects for Supply, Transportation, and Demand: Insights from the DFI Western European Gas Program
Ralph D. Samuelson and Dale M. Nesbitt

Algeria's Gas Resources: A Global Evaluation and Perspective
D. Takherist, A. Attar, and M. Drid

Integrated Resource Estimation of the Patao Field, Offshore Northeastern Venezuela
Rodulfo Prieto C., Christine Rossen, and Ricardo Ramirez de A.

Natural Gas Resource Base of Venezuela
Ramon A. Mantellini Q.

Natural Gas Resources in Argentina
Marcelo R. Yrigoyen

Hydrocarbon Potential in the Sub-Andean Basins of South America
Robert A. Meneley

Chinese Natural Gas Resources and Their Distribution
Zhu Xiaomin

Geological Characteristics of Natural Gas Reservoirs and Natural Gas Resource Potential in China
Guan Zeng Miao

Gas Resources of Malaysia
Khalid Ngah

An Overview of Natural Gas Resources and Their Utilization in Indonesia
Zanial Achmad and Omar Sumaryono

Future Asia Pacific Energy Markets and Self-Fulfilling Prophecies
Bruce N. Stram

Hydrocarbon Geology of Bangladesh
Gunther Eickhoff

The Natural Gas Resources of the Former Soviet Union
Nikolay N. Nemchenko

Gas Resources of the Former Soviet Union
Vladislav I. Staroselsky

Gas Resources of Ukraine and Technolgies for Increasing Them
M. M. Gavrylsnko, B. P. Kabyshev, L.V. Kurylyuk, and I. M. Matveev

The Economics of Gas Resources of the Former Soviet Union
John D. Grace

Acknowledgments

List of Chairmen

List of Attendees

Appendix: USGS World Estimates of Cumulative Production, Identified Reserves, and Undiscovered Resources of Conventional Natural Gas


Citation
Ruthven, C. L., editor, 1994, Impacts of Technology on the Global Gas Resource Base: Proceedings of the Global Gas Resources Workshop: The University of Texas at Austin, Bureau of Economic Geology, Report of Investigations No. 223, 219 p. doi.org/10.23867/RI0223D.