A newfound abundance of natural gas promises to tip the fossil fuel balance further in its favor.
Gas production in the United States peaked in the early 1970s, along with oil, but in recent years
technology advances have dramatically reversed the decline.18 Advances in horizontal drilling
and hydraulic fracturing have unlocked gas resources in ―unconventional‖ reservoirs, such as
tight sands, coal bed methane, and shale rock rich in organic materials. As a result, resource
estimates have increased sharply, and as lessons learned in the United States are applied to
exploration and production of unconventional resources internationally, natural gas has the
potential to shed the supply, price volatility, and energy security concerns that have surrounded it
during the last few decades.