Introduction to unconventional AUTHORS

B. E. Law Pangea Hydrocarbon

petroleum systems Exploration LLC, 12343 W. Louisiana Avenue,
Lakewood, Colorado, 80228;
B. E. Law and J. B. Curtis belaw@worldnet.att.net
Ben Law is a consultant and sole proprietor of
Pangea Hydrocarbon Exploration LLC. His
INTRODUCTION research interests include basin-centered gas
and coalbed methane systems. Prior to his
The collection of articles included in this theme issue of the AAPG consulting position, he was a member and
Bulletin originated in the AAPG Research Group on Unconven- chief of the U.S. Geological Survey Western
tional Petroleum Systems (UPS). The members of the group, after Tight Gas Sand Project and regional
considerable discussion, concluded that there was a need to present coordinator of South Asia for the U.S.
Geological Survey World Energy Project. He
an overview of selected unconventional gas systems and to clarify
received B.S. and M.S. degrees from San
and expand upon these systems as factors in meeting the increasing
Diego State University, California.
energy needs of developing and industrialized countries of the
world. Natural gas is expected to be the fastest growing component J. B. Curtis Department of Geology and
of world energy consumption by 2020 (DOE/EIA, 2002); natural Geological Engineering, Colorado School of
gas consumption in 2020 is projected to be 162 tcf, nearly double Mines, Golden, Colorado 80401;
the 1999 total of 84 tcf. Most of the increase is expected to be in jbcurtis@mines.edu
developing countries. Although there appear to be sufficient gas John B. Curtis is associate professor and
resources to meet anticipated world consumption through 2020, director, Petroleum Exploration and
several regions, such as Mexico, western Europe, and the United Production Center/Potential Gas Agency at the
States, are increasingly dependent on imported supplies of gas. Colorado School of Mines. He is an associate
Globally, there are different perceptions of the definition of an editor for the AAPG Bulletin and The
Mountain Geologist. As director of the
unconventional gas system. In the United States, earlier distinctions
Potential Gas Agency, he works with a team
between conventional and unconventional resources were primarily
of 145 geologists, geophysicists, and
based on economics; in the early to middle 1970s, subeconomic or petroleum engineers in their biennial
marginally economic gas resources such as coalbed methane, shale assessment of remaining United States natural
gas, and tight (low-permeability) gas were considered by most ex- gas resources.
ploration geologists as unconventional. However, with the stimuli
of price incentives and federally funded research beginning in the
late 1970s, these gas systems are now economically viable resources,
and some exploration companies no longer refer to them as uncon-
ventional. Aside from economic considerations, there is a funda-
mentally important geologic distinction: conventional gas resources
are buoyancy-driven deposits, occurring as discrete accumulations
in structural and/or stratigraphic traps, whereas unconventional gas
resources are generally not buoyancy-driven accumulations. They
are regionally pervasive accumulations, most commonly indepen-
dent of structural and stratigraphic traps.
As the more easily exploited, conventional gas resources are
produced, unconventional gas resources are becoming a larger con-
tributor to annual gas production in the United States. For example,
gas in low-permeability (tight) reservoirs, coalbed methane, and
shale gas account for more than 26% of the daily United States
production. With the emergence of unconventional gas resources

Copyright 2002. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists. All rights reserved.

AAPG Bulletin, v. 86, no. 11 (November 2002), pp. 18511852 1851

as a viable energy resource, it is increasingly important
for exploration geologists to modify and expand upon
long-held traditional concepts concerning the pro-
cesses of gas generation, expulsion, migration, entrap-
ment, and reservoir quality. For example, expanding
the range of reservoir quality to include low-perme-
ability (0.1 md) sandstones and self-sourcing reser-
voirs such as coal and shale effectively opens up new
stratigraphic and geographic exploration frontiers. Un-
fortunately, the stigma of high risk and high cost as-
sociated with unconventional gas resources serves to
hinder exploration and exploitation of this huge re-
source. More commonly than not, unconventional
does not necessarily mean nonproductive. Although
some types of unconventional gas resources may never
be economic, other types, such as coalbed methane,
shale gas, and gas from low-permeability reservoirs, are
viable gas resources, representing a true exploration
frontier. Misinformation concerning the geological na-
ture of unconventional gas resources has been an im-
portant factor in suppressing exploration for uncon-
ventional gas resources. In many countries outside
1852 Introduction
North America, concepts of some types of unconven-
tional gas resources, such as basin-centered gas sys-
tems, are not known or are poorly known, at best.
As a consequence of these concerns, the articles
included in this theme issue of the AAPG Bulletin were
selected on the basis of their economic importance,
current level of interest, and future potential. They in-
clude overviews of basin-centered gas, shale gas, coal-
bed methane, biogenic gas, and gas hydrate systems. In
addition to these gas systems, an overview of assess-
ment methodologies is included; failure to correctly
identify the geologic nature of a gas accumulation will
result in the use of an inappropriate assessment meth-
odology and an underassessment.
REFERENCES CITED
DOE/EIA (U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information
Agency), 2002, International energy outlook 2002: DOE/EIA-
0484, 21 p.