The size of the global unconventional gas market was worth USD 205.17 billion in 2023. The global market is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 8.64% from 2024 to 2032 and be worth USD 432.54 billion by 2032 from USD 223 billion in 2024.
Unconventional Gas is produced from coal seams, shale rocks, and low-permeability rocks. The gas produced in these reservoirs has the same properties as the gas produced in conventional reservoirs, that is, sedimentary, with high porosity and permeability. Unconventional gas can have high levels of natural gas liquids, low or high levels of carbon dioxide, and high or low levels of sulfur. Today, the world is faced with the challenges of conventional fossil fuel shortages and environmental degradation. Unconventional energy resources are highly employed to overcome these problems. Unconventional gas is referred to as natural gas that needs advanced production techniques. These gas resources are in unusual geological locations and therefore require special extraction technologies. Unconventional gas sources have been gaining a lot of attention lately due to their significant contribution to gas production in the United States.
The federal government of the United States has encouraged investment in unconventional gas exploration through public-private partnerships. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved a royalty on interstate gas sales to fund research and development in gas technology. This has accelerated R&D investments in the unconventional gas market. The discovery of new natural gas reserves, particularly in the United States, China, Argentina, and Canada, offers significant potential for the unconventional gas market.
The transport sector has boosted the natural gas market, with an increase in the deployment of CNG vehicles. More than 24 million natural gas vehicles (NGV) were in operation worldwide in 2021. Natural gas can be employed in all kinds of vehicles, such as motorcycles, cars, vans, light and heavy trucks, buses, forklifts elevators, and locomotives. This trend is predicted to continue during the foreseen period, thus boosting the unconventional gas market. The abundance of unconventional gas resources has been identified as one of the important factors that will drive the expansion of the unconventional gas market during the foreseen period. With the depletion of conventional oil and gas resources, the need to explore unconventional energy sources such as shale and tight formations, and oil sands have escalated. Unconventional resources are in abundance in several countries, including the United States, Canada, China, and Argentina. Various techniques are employed to improve the rate of production of these unconventional gas resources. Escalated production and the availability of abundant unconventional gas resources are some of the factors driving market expansion.
Hydraulic fracturing is a process of injecting chemicals, water, and sand at very high pressure into gas wells to fracture rocks and release methane. The process takes two to five days and requires an average of 5.5 million gallons of fluid. It can be repeated several times in the same well during the potential life of 25 to 40 years. Many of these chemicals are toxic and are known to have adverse health effects. Many of the chemicals employed in hydraulic fracturing can cause respiratory, skin, and eye problems, and can also affect the brain, nervous system, and gastrointestinal systems. This is predicted to hamper the unconventional gas market.
The combination of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing technologies has made the production of natural gas from shale formations more economical. Escalating the call for natural gas and growing investments in shale gas exploration and production activities are predicted to drive the expansion of the unconventional gas market through the shale gas segment. Market expansion through the shale gas segment will be faster than market expansion through the sealed gas and coal methane segments. Technological advances in the hydraulic fracturing process support the exploration and production of oil and gas from shale deposits. Hydraulic Fracturing has incorporated sensors and software to monitor water quality and equipment status to improve the efficiency of the hydraulic fracturing process. Additionally, the integration of the Internet of Things (IoT) for data acquisition, as well as the use of data analytics and machine learning, should further support the efficiency of the tools employed in the hydraulic fracturing process. This development should have a positive impact on the overall expansion of the market.
However, the substitution of oil for gas in various sectors, such as transportation, is likely to hamper the GDP of oil-producing countries. The United States and Germany have already begun to replace oil with gas.
The coronavirus has definitely pushed the O&G industry in India to sit down and reconsider what should be included in business continuity plans. However, leaders who take this opportunity to start thinking about the pervasive changes needed to their operating models, using a combination of an agile operating mindset, a long-term vision, and partner ecosystems, faster than others, will probably come out stronger as the dust settles. The Indian O&G industry is generally competent in disaster response and its effectiveness has been demonstrated in a variety of disaster scenarios in the past. With COVID-19 as well, the industry has performed quite well so far, as evidenced by near-continuous operations and the availability of different fuels, almost throughout the country. However, most O&G CXOs believe that the sector's recovery is likely to be longer than predicted.
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REPORT METRIC |
DETAILS |
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Market Size Available |
2023 to 2032 |
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Base Year |
2023 |
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Forecast Period |
2024 to 2032 |
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CAGR |
8.64% |
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Segments Covered |
By Type, Application, and Region. |
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Various Analyses Covered |
Global, Regional & Country Level Analysis, Segment-Level Analysis, DROC, PESTLE Analysis, Porter’s Five Forces Analysis, Competitive Landscape, Analyst Overview of Investment Opportunities |
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Regions Covered |
North America, Europe, APAC, Latin America, Middle East & Africa |
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Market Leaders Profiled |
Baker Hughes, GE Company, Schlumberger Limited, Royal Dutch Shell plc, Chevron Corporation, ExxonMobil Corporation, Total S.A, Halliburton Inc, Weatherford International Plc, National Oilwell Varco, BP plc, Emerson Automation Solutions, and Others. |
North America dominated the worldwide unconventional gas market in 2023. Asia-Pacific is another key region in the unconventional gas market. Consumers' disposable income has grown at a rapid rate in Asia-Pacific. This boosts the GDP of the region. Rising GDP is driving energy calls in Asia-Pacific. China, India, and Indonesia are the main contributors to energy calls. In terms of unconventional gas production, China and Australia are the main countries in Asia-Pacific. According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), China has the largest technically recoverable reserves of shale gas (predicted at 31.57 TCM) in the world. This is 68% higher than the shale gas reserves in the United States.
India is also focused on unconventional gas production. In March 2017, Reliance Industries began commercial coalbed methane production at its fields in Sohagpur in Madhya Pradesh, India. Canada is known to have large reserves of conventional gas, and the country was a key supplier of natural gas to the United States for decades until the recent shale boom in the United States. However, with the decline of conventional sources of natural gas, the Canadian industry is turning to unconventional sources, including shale gas.
Companies playing a prominent role in the global unconventional gas market include Baker Hughes, GE Company, Schlumberger Limited, Royal Dutch Shell plc, Chevron Corporation, ExxonMobil Corporation, Total S.A, Halliburton Inc, Weatherford International Plc, National Oilwell Varco, BP plc, Emerson Automation Solutions, and Others.
By Type
By Application
By Region
Frequently Asked Questions
The Global Unconventional Gas Market is expected to grow with a CAGR of 8.64% between 2024-2032.
The Global Unconventional Gas Market size is expected to reach a revised size of USD 432.54 million by 2032.
Royal Dutch Shell plc., Chevron Corporation, and ExxonMobil Corporation are the three Unconventional Gas Market key players.
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