First Came Heavy Oil Now its “Unconventional Gas”

As energy prices rise on a daily basis, anything becomes possible. First unconventional heavy oils from tar sands to oil shales have become economical, now it’s the turn of “unconventional gas”.

Just as we blogged that natural gas supplies are beginning to dry up, so energy companies are starting to exploit this new resource.

Talisman Energy plans to spend $1.3-billion in the next 18 months to evaluate the potential of “unconventional gas” on one million hectares of land it controls in North America.

Instead of chasing exploration opportunities around the world, Talisman is embracing unconventional gas, which is located in fields where the molecules are trapped in tight rock formations that are difficult to access.

As Talisman evaluates unconventional gas, it said it aims to increase production by about 6.5 per cent. In 2010, 2011 and 2012, Talisman said it hopes to push the growth to about 7.5 per cent.

What will be next? Unconventional nuclear…