Exxon: Unconventional Gas to Lead the Way

Natural gas from shale and other unconventional sources will account for 30% of worldwide gas production by 2040, according to ExxonMobil Corp's 2012 energy outlook.

The Exxon report projects a 30% increase in global energy demand from 2010 levels, but added that growth would be more than four times that amount without expected gains in efficiency.

It expected oil, gas, and coal to provide 80% of the world’s energy in 2040, but anticipates gas’s share growing as coal’s declines.

“Gas continues to be the growing fuel of choice,” said William M. Colton, ExxonMobil’s vice-president for corporate strategic planning.

“This is possible because of the growing global resource—about 250 years of current demand.”

The report looks at what types of energy will the world use, and how much, as well as how new technologies, efficiencies and policies impact the market.

Download 2012 The Outlook for Energy: A View to 2040  HERE