Most people think that China will develop its unconventional resources quickly with help from the major integrated oil and gas companies.

From coal-bed methane (CBM) for an LNG project in Queensland, Australia, to CBM resources on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia, Santos is set to ride a wave of unconventional gas in Australia and Asia.

As the sixth largest oil producer in the world, Canada is ramping up its vast, underexplored areas offshore Nova Scotia and in the Northwest Territories offshore Beaufort Sea.

From the Mako Trough in Hungary to the Karoo Basin in South Africa to the Beetaloo Basin in Australia, Falcon Oil & Gas is tying up very attractive acreage as a first mover in these plays.

The most active shale exploration for BNK Petroleum is in Poland, while operations in Spain and Germany are moving a little more slowly.  On the other side of the Atlantic, the company is also pursuing the Caney Shale in the Ardmore Basin in Oklahoma.

The last assessment of undiscovered, conventional oil and gas resources in the world outside the United States was done by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in 2000.

With nine successful wells offshore Mozambique, Anadarko Petroleum is applying its worldwide expertise to discover and develop world-class natural gas reserves.

More than twice as many exploration wells will be drilled in shale plays this year as Poland steps up its efforts to tap these oil and gas resources.

Real-time 3D visualization can enable enhanced well planning, reservoir navigation and drilling optimization.

Increased and expanded scope of training, drills and competency testing along with improved response equipment could prevent future unthinkable events like Macondo.