Unconventional Gas Market Size, Share and Global Trend By Type (Shale Gas, Tight Gas, Coal Bed Methane), By Application (Power Generation, Industrial, Commercial, Others), and Regional Forecast, 2024-2032

Natural gas is most sought after oil products in terms of the global primary energy mix and for years the world has debated over the potential for natural gas to play a critical role in providing resilient and sustainable energy future. The recent advances in US shale gas operation created new prospects for affordable and secure supplies of natural gas. In the recent period, unconventional gas has emerged as an important source of energy which is widely used in transportation and domestic purpose. Hydraulic fracturing is a term used in the production of unconventional oil & gas in which horizontal directional drilling of wells is used in addition to the use of water, sand, and chemicals at high pressure to fracture rock and release hydrocarbons.

The classification of unconventional gas is done on the basis of type i.e. Shale Gas, Tight Gas, and Coal Bed Methane. All three gases are used on a huge scale in the industrial process, whereas shale and tight gas are specifically applicable for transportation and domestic purpose.

The unconventional gas exploration is becoming an easy task due to advance technological development in drilling enhancing the overall production of gases. The recent trend of shifting towards natural gas has created a potential market driving the unconventional gas market. The production of unconventional gas needs excessive amount of water sources and also contaminate groundwater hindering the growth of the unconventional gas market.

Key Players Covered

The leading companies in the unconventional gas market are Exxon Mobil, Petro China, British Petroleum, Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron, Total, Statoil, Equinor, Conoco Phillips, ENI, ONGC, China National Petroleum Corporation and ONGC.

SEGMENTATION

Regional Analysis

The global unconventional gas market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa. North America is dominating the unconventional gas market specifically the US which disrupted global shale gas production. Technology innovation drove productivity, efficiency, and operational flexibility in E&P creating a lucrative investment opportunity for investors. In Europe, Russia has been a long standing supplier in the natural gas industry, the current economic trend of Russia’s oil indexed contracts imports make the resource more competitive than LNG imports. The natural gas imports in Europe have declined in recent years. The overall growth of the unconventional gas market in Europe seems to be at a peak rate in forthcoming years. The Asia Pacific has extensive proven reserves of coal and shale gases. China & Indi are among the leading countries having the largest share of coal reserves creating a potential development for coalbed methane gas. In China, the government target indicates shale gas, coalbed methane gas could grow to reflect at least 50% of domestic natural gas production by 2030. Saudi Arabia is investing at a large scale for the development of shale gas for self-reliant in E&P of shale gas which is currently seeking technical expertise from North America. In African countries, an extensive potential opportunities available for the development of unconventional gas in order to increase the domestic gas production and provide a reliable source of energy to domestic LPG users. The ongoing development activities and government initiative to leverage the energy sector will boom the unconventional gas market.

Key Industry Developments

• In April 2019, Shell has made an agreement with Shengli Oil Field company, a subsidiary of Sinopec, for shale gas exploration.


• In October 2018, British Petroleum (BP) awarded a contract to Jacob Engineering Group Inc. to provide engineering services, procurement and construction management for tight gas project in the Sultanate of Oman


• In June 2018, ONGC sold coalbed methane gas from its Bokaro block to a private entity, H N Roy for $5.77 per MMBtu on a gross calorific value.