Tight gas is difficult to access due to the dense rock and sand surrounding the reservoir. Companies require a large financial incentive to extract it, but as energy prices rise, interest increases. Tight gas is found in coal deposits and requires finding a “sweet spot” to extract. Most deposits are at least 251 million years old and deeper than normal gas deposits. Companies use survey tactics to identify potential sources and pinpoint the best spots to drill.
Tight gas is a natural gas that is difficult to access due to the nature of the rock and sand surrounding the reservoir. Because this gas is much more difficult to extract than natural gas from other sources, companies require a large financial incentive to go after it; as energy prices rise, so does the interest in extracting it. Several global oil and gas companies control significant reserves of tight gas, and some have also invested substantial resources in learning more about more efficient extraction.
Normally, natural gas is fairly easy to access. When a deposit is identified, a well can be dug and the gas flows naturally into the well, making it easy to pump to the surface and distribute from there. This is because natural gas is normally surrounded by porous rock deposits, with many small holes through which the gas can seep. Sometimes, gas almost literally pumps itself.
In the case of tight gas, the surrounding sandstone, shale or other rock is not as permeable, and appears much denser in cross section. The lack of permeability locks the gas underground, making it difficult to drill a profitable well. This gas is also found trapped in coal deposits. Accessing them requires finding a “sweet spot” where a large amount of gas is accessible, and sometimes using various means to create a pressure vacuum in the well that extracts the gas from the surrounding rock.
Historically, such deposits have been written off as “unsalvageable,” but as demand for natural gas has grown, many companies have reconsidered this rating, pushing to see if the deposits could be accessed. While tight gas is expensive to extract, higher gas prices can make it worth the expense, especially if the gas has a composition conducive to distillation, allowing the company to extract several valuable fractions from a single well.
Most of the tight gas deposits date from the Paleozoic era, which means they are at least 251 million years old. The advanced age of these deposits is presumably responsible for their inaccessibility; the gas is tight, in other words, because the rock around it has had more time to thicken. These deposits can also be deeper than normal gas deposits, posing further challenges. Firms working with tight gas use a variety of survey tactics to identify potential gas sources and to pinpoint the best spots to drill.
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