Unconventional Resources: The Shifting Geographies and Geopolitics of Energy

Author(s): Jonas Grätz
Editor(s): Daniel Möckli
Series Editor(s): Andreas Wenger
Book Title: Strategic Trends 2012: Key Developments in Global Affairs
Series: Strategic Trends
Publisher(s): Center for Security Studies (CSS), ETH Zurich
Publication Year: 2012
Publication Place: Zurich

The emergence of unconventional oil and gas marks a break with several established trends in energy supply. Due to their geographic location, unconventional resources contribute to supply diversity rather than concentration. Their production is driven much more by economics than politics. They also reduce the import dependence of some consumers, especially the US. Owing to domestic constraints, the EU has seized the new opportunities far less than the US and China so far. But as unconventionals reinforce global markets, they work to the advantage of all consumers in energy geopolitics.

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