FROZEN HEAT | Volume 2

1.2 GLOBAL ENERGY RESOURCES AND GAS HYDRATES

Resource occurrences and potential for recovery are not ame- nable to an easy or simple quantification. Energy resource assessments typically include at least three interrelated com- ponents: geological knowledge, economics, and technology. Increases in geological knowledge and improvements in technology, motivated largely by increasing prices, have con- tributed to an increase in the fossil energy resource base. The additional resources include new fields discovered within al- ready-established resource elements, as well as entirely new resource elements (such as ultra-deep-water hydrocarbon re- sources and a variety of unconventional resources) that were previously unknown or considered non-recoverable. Gas hydrates resource potential by global regions

A number of terms related to resources and reserves have specific meaning in connection with hydrocarbons. The to- tal volume of a resource, often called the in-place resource, includes all hydrocarbons present within a given geologic unit or geographic area. The subset of in-place resources that is practically producible is often called the technically recoverable resource (TRR). Those technically recoverable resources that can be produced at a profit are economically recoverable resources (ERR). Economically recoverable re- sources that have been confirmed and quantified by hydro- carbon production are called reserves (see Text Box 1.1 for more detail).

Gas hydrates resource potential by global regions

Arctic Ocean

Former Soviet Union

Canada

United States

Arctic Ocean

Japan

Europe

Former Soviet Union China

Canada

North Africa

United States

Middle East

Other East Asia

Eastern Africa

India

Other Pacific Asia

Japan

Europe

Western and Central Africa

China Other South Asia

Resource potential Median tcm

North Africa

Middle East

Other East Asia

Oceania

Southern Africa

Eastern Africa

Latin America and the Caribbean

3 2 6

India

Other Paci c Asia

Western and Central Africa

Other South Asia

Southern Ocean

Resource potential Median tcf 0.1

Oceania

Southern Africa

Latin America and the Caribbean

196 100 50 5

Source: Johnson 2011

Southern Ocean

Figure 1.1: Gas hydrates resource potential by global regions. This figure includes only that subset of global in-place gas hydrates that appear to occur at high concentrations in sand-rich reservoirs, the most likely candidates for development. Source: Johnson 2011.

Source: Johnson 2011

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