For centuries, resource-rich countries have relied on hydrocarbons to sustain their economies through the long-term control of supply to both internal and external markets.

As accessible global reserves of conventional oil and gas are depleted, exploration and production companies have turned their attention to increasingly challenging deepwater and sub-sea environments. In order to secure future supply, governments have similarly turned their attention from traditional production regions to more politically challenging supply agreements.

In parallel to these moves to secure the remaining reserves of conventional oil and gas, a new sector has emerged which represents secure and abundant domestic energy reserves within the borders of the current and emerging energy consuming nations.

'Shale gas', 'tight gas' and 'coal bed methane' are now established in the vocabulary of the energy markeplace. Underground coal gasification completes the unconventional gas landscape and represents the largest proportion of global reserves in this new energy sector.