Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Fossil Energy pp 7–23Cite as

Oil and Natural Gas: Global Resources

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

Abstract

Accumulations of natural gas that are trapped in ice-like crystalline solids consisting of gas molecules surrounded by cages of water molecules. Hydrates are stable at certain temperatures and pressures within some sea–floor sediments and within permafrost in polar regions. Synonymous with gas clathrates.

This chapter was originally published as part of the Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science and Technology edited by Robert A. Meyers. DOI:10.1007/978-1-4419-0851-3

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   149.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Abbreviations

Coal bed methane (CBM):

Natural gas (methane) that can be extracted from coal beds. Synonymous with coal bed gas and coal seam gas (CSG).

Conventional oil and gas:

Oil and natural gas that occur in the subsurface and that can be produced using conventional methods of well drilling.

Gas hydrates:

Accumulations of natural gas that are trapped in ice-like crystalline solids consisting of gas molecules surrounded by cages of water molecules. Hydrates are stable at certain temperatures and pressures within some sea-floor sediments and within permafrost in polar regions. Synonymous with gas clathrates.

Oil sands:

Sandstones that are naturally impregnated with bitumen, a highly viscous form of petroleum. Synonymous with bituminous sands and tar sands.

Oil shale:

A rock that contains significant amounts of solid organic chemical compounds (kerogen) that can generate oil when heated.

Reserves:

The discovered, but not yet produced, amounts of oil or gas that could be extracted profitably with existing technology under present economic conditions.

Resources:

The amounts of oil and gas that have been discovered plus the estimated amount that remains to be discovered.

Shale gas:

Natural gas that is produced from shale.

Tight gas:

Natural gas that is extracted from rocks with very low porosity and permeability and which is, therefore, relatively difficult to produce.

Unconventional oil and gas:

Oil and natural gas accumulations that require extraction techniques that allow easier flow of oil and gas to a well (for example, hydraulic fracturing to open pathways or in situ heating to reduce viscosity) or by processing after mining.

Bibliography

Primary Literature

  1. International Energy Agency (2010) Key world energy statistics. OECD/IEA, Paris

    Google Scholar 

  2. Energy Information Agency (2011) http://www.eia.doe.gov/. Accessed April 2011

  3. Fanning LM (1950) A case history of oil-shortage scares. In: Fanning LM (ed) Our oil resources. McGraw-Hill, New York, pp 306–406

    Google Scholar 

  4. Hubbert MK (1956) Nuclear energy and the fossil fuels, Shell Development Company Publication 95. Shell Development Company, Houston, 40 p

    Google Scholar 

  5. Hubbert MK (1962) Energy resources: a report to the Committee on Natural Resources, National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council Publication 1000-D. National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council, Washington, 141 p

    Google Scholar 

  6. Deffeyes KS (2001) Hubbert’s peak: the impending world oil shortage. Princeton University Press, Princeton, 208 p

    Google Scholar 

  7. Meadows DH, Meadows DL, Randers J, Behrens WW III (1972) The limits to growth. Universe Books, New York, 205 p

    Google Scholar 

  8. Campbell CJ (1988) The coming oil crisis. MultiScience, Brentwood, 210 p

    Google Scholar 

  9. McCabe PJ (1998) Energy resources – cornucopia or empty barrel? AAPG Bull 82:2110–2134

    Google Scholar 

  10. United States Geological Survey (2000) World petroleum assessment 2000 – description and results, U.S. Geological Survey Digital Data Series DDS-60. U.S. Geological Survey, Denver. http://pubs.usgs.gov/dds/dds-060/

  11. Sandrea I, Sandrea R (2007) Global oil reserves-1: recovery factors leave vast target for EOR technologies. Oil Gas J 105(Nov 5):44–47

    Google Scholar 

  12. Sandrea I, Sandrea R (2007) Global oil reserves-2: recovery factors leave EOR plenty of room for growth. Oil Gas J 105(Nov 12):39–42

    Google Scholar 

  13. National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling (2011) Deep water: the Gulf oil disaster and the future of offshore drilling. 380 p, https://s3.amazonaws.com/pdf_final/DEEPWATER_ReporttothePresident_FINAL.pdf

    Google Scholar 

  14. Gautier DL, Bird KJ, Charpentier RC, Grantz A, Houseknecht DW, Klett TR, Moore TE, Pitman JK, Schenk CJ, Schuenemeyer JH, Sørensen K, Tennyson ME, Valin ZC, Wandrey CJ (2009) Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas in the Arctic. Science 324:1175–1179

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Shanley KW, Cluff RM, Robinson JW (2004) Factors controlling prolific gas production from low-permeability sandstone reservoirs: implications for resource assessment, prospect development, and risk analysis. AAPG Bull 88:1083–1121

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Nehring R (2008) Growing and indispensable: the contribution of production from tight-gas sands to U.S. gas production. In: Cumella SP, Shanley KW, Camp WK (eds) Understanding, exploring, and developing tight-gas sands – 2005 Vail Hedberg conference, AAPG Hedberg Series, No. 3. American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Tulsa, pp 5–12

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  17. Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (2011) Statistical handbook for Canada’s upstream petroleum industry. Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, 2011–9999, Calgary, 211 p

    Google Scholar 

  18. The Economist (2011) Muck and brass. Economist 398(8717):77–80

    Google Scholar 

  19. United States Geological Survey (2009) An estimate of recoverable heavy oil resources of the Orinoco oil belt, Venezuela, U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2009–3028. U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, 4 p

    Google Scholar 

  20. Australian Government (2010) Australian energy resource assessment. Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism, Canberra, 358 p

    Google Scholar 

  21. Swindell GS (2007) Powder River Basin coalbed methane wells – reserves and rates. Society of Petroleum Engineers Report SPE 107308

    Google Scholar 

  22. Energy Resources Conservation Board (2010) ST109: Alberta coalbed methane well locations. Energy Resources Conservation Board, Calgary, 426 p

    Google Scholar 

  23. Dyni JR (2006) Geology and resources of some world oil-shale deposits, U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2005–5294. U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, 42 p

    Google Scholar 

  24. U.S. Geological Survey (2008) Assessment of undiscovered oil resources in the Devonian-Mississippian Bakken Formation, Williston Basin province, Montana and North Dakota, U.S Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2008–3021. U.S. Geological Survey, Reston

    Google Scholar 

  25. Klump E, Polson J (2009) Shale-gas skeptic’s supply doubts draw wrath of Devon (update 2). http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive/sid=asEUlpJcuZB4. Accessed April 2011

  26. Kvenvolden KA (1993) A primer on gas hydrates. In: Howell DG et al (eds) The future of energy gases, US Geological Survey Professional Paper 1570. U.S. G.P.O, Washington, DC, pp 279–291

    Google Scholar 

  27. Walsh MR, Hancock SH, Wilson SJ, Patil SL, Moridis GJ, Boswell R, Collett TS, Koh CA, Sloan ED (2009) Preliminary report on the commercial viability of gas production from natural gas hydrates. Energy Econ 31:815–823

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Simmons MW (2005) Twilight in the desert. Wiley, Hoboken, 422 p

    Google Scholar 

  29. BP (2010) BP Statistical review of world energy, June 2010. http://bp.com/statisticalreview. Accessed April 2011

  30. United States Geological Survey (2010) Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources of Southeast Asia, USGS Fact Sheet 2010–3015. U.S. Geological Survey, Reston

    Google Scholar 

  31. Gautier DL, McCabe PJ, Ogden J, Demayo TN (2010) Resources, reserves, and consumption of energy. In: Graedel TE, van der Voet E (eds) Linkages of sustainability, Strüngmann Forum Report. MIT, Cambridge, MA, pp 323–340

    Google Scholar 

  32. King KC (2007) Growth; are we underestimating recent discoveries?: abstracts, annual meeting. AAPG 2007:77

    Google Scholar 

  33. Government of Canada (2010) Oil sands – a strategic resource for Canada, North America and the world. Natural Resources Canada, Ottawa, http://www.nrcan-rncan.gc.ca/eneene/pdf/os-sb-eng.pdf

  34. Mohr SH, Evans GM (2010) Shale gas changes N. American gas production projections. Oil Gas J 108(July 26):60–64

    Google Scholar 

  35. U.S. Geological Survey (1997) Coalbed methane – an untapped energy resource and an environmental concern, USGS Fact Sheet FS-019-97. U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, http://energy.usgs.gov/factsheets/Coalbed/coalmeth.html

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Earth, Environmental and Biological Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, 2 George Street, Brisbane, QLD, 4000, Australia

    Dr. Peter J. McCabe

Authors
  1. Dr. Peter J. McCabe
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Peter J. McCabe .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Chemistry & Chemical Engineering Lab., SRI International, Menlo Park, USA

    Ripudaman Malhotra

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

McCabe, P.J. (2013). Oil and Natural Gas: Global Resources. In: Malhotra, R. (eds) Fossil Energy. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5722-0_2

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5722-0_2

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-5721-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-5722-0

  • eBook Packages: EnergyEnergy (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation