Energy Resource Risk Factors

Naturally pressurized, conventional gas deposits and unconventional gas deposits consisting of coalbed methane, tight gas, shale gas, and natural gas hydrate (NGH), are found in a wide range of geological physical systems. Each of these resources has particular petroleum systems, reservoir characteristics, and different potential hazards and opportunities for exploration and production that can be expressed as risk. Natural gas resource types have some risks in common but each type has some unique risks, while other types may not have some of the risks of others at all. We propose metrics and compare and contrast natural gas deposits for a full range of relative conventional and special risks. We also compare risk factors for different energy resources, with particular attention to traditional fossil fuels and other sources of energy. NGH appears to have the lowest overall technical risk factors, with particularly low pollution and environmental risk, which suggests that NGH resources could safely supply natural gas even in environmentally fragile regions such as the Arctic Ocean.