Global Markets Direct: North America Unconventional Gas Industry on reports-research.com

Feb. 5, 2010 - PRLog -- detailing the major sources and key challenges and prospects for their development. The report provides an outlook for the overall natural gas industry in North America (the US and Canada) with forecasts till 2020, and analyzes the growing importance of unconventional natural gas production in the industry. The report provides detailed analysis of 7 major shale gas plays and 2 major Coal Bed Methane (CBM) basins in North America delving on the drilling details, cost trends, historical forecasts and major players in each play. The report also provides the production forecast for each of these plays to 2020.

Unconventional Natural Gas Will Account For Majority Of Natural Gas Supply In The North American Market

The North American natural gas industry is expected to witness a steady growth in production from 72.4 Bcf/d in 2008 to 82.1 Bcf/d in 2020, at an AAGR of 1.2%. Unconventional natural gas is expected to account for 52% of the total production in 2020.
In the US, unconventional natural gas already accounts for approximately 50% of the production. By 2020, this share is expected to increase to 58%. In Canada, the unconventional natural gas production is expected to account for 30% of the production in 2020, up from approximately 5% share in 2008.

North American Shale Plays Will Attract Huge Investments And Be The Prime Driver For Growth In Natural Gas Production

Shale gas plays are expected to be the prime drivers of growth in North America’s natural gas production. The seven major shale gas plays in North America, namely, Antrim, Barnett, Woodford, Haynesville, Fayetteville, Marcellus and Horn River are together expected to produce approximately 19.6 Bcf/d in 2020 with over 50% of this production coming from Haynesville and Barnett shale plays.

The shale plays have attracted huge investments from the industry in terms of both M&A activity and expenditure incurred in leasing activity. In 2008, different companies invested over $28 billion in acquiring different shale gas properties, with XTO energy being the most aggressive having invested over $15 billion in acquiring different shale properties in the US.
However, since 2008 the total investment in shales till date has dropped immensely, to just over $5 billion. The investment is expected to pick up again as the world recovers from the current economic slowdown. M&A activity in the plays is expected to surge with gas prices stabilizing in the range of $6 to $7 per Mcfe.

By 2020, Haynesville Shale Will Be The Largest Natural Gas Producing Field In North America

Haynesville shale is expected to overtake Barnett shale and become the largest natural gas producing field in North America by 2019. The shale’s production is expected to reach 5.2 Bcf/d in 2020. The shale has achieved some excellent IP rates with Devon’s recent well in the play achieving an IP rate of 30.7 Mmcfe/d. The cost of the well in the play have also been reported to go down. Chesapeake recently announced that some of the new wells drilled in Haynesville cost them $ 6 million, quite low when compared to the industry average of $8.0 million per well.

Shale Gas Development In Canada Will Help The Country Maintain Its Current Production Levels

The expected development of shale gas plays in Canada will help it to compensate for the decline in natural gas production from conventional fields. The overall shale production is expected to reach approximately 4.0 Bcf/d in 2020 with Horn River shale being the largest unconventional play in the country. Other major increase in shale production is expected to come from Montney shale. Utica in Quebec is also expected to witness some increased activity.


Global Markets Direct: North America Unconventional Gas Industry - Set to Regain Momentum Post Current Crisis:
http://www.reports-research.com/market-surveys/north-amer...

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