Unconventional gas reserves, including shale gas and coal seam methane, are now at least as abundant as conventional reserves, according to the International Energy Agency.
It is also getting cheaper and easier to exploit previously inaccessible resources. The result has been a long decline in natural gas prices.
Those low prices aren't good news for everybody. Major natural gas exporters, some of whom have made significant capital investment to exploit gas reserves, will see lower profits and less government revenue. For countries whose economies depend heavily on gas exports, low prices could put pressure on their finances.
The countries in the following list of natural gas exporters are ranked by natural gas rents as a percentage of GDP. Natural gas rent is the difference between the value of natural gas production at world prices and total costs of production. Data is from 2010 unless otherwise noted.
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