Shale Gas Vital to Energy Future

Exxon Mobil forecast today that world energy demand will rise 35 percent by 2030, compared to 2005 levels; natural gas will supplant coal as the second-largest global energy source, behind oil; and electricity demand will skyrocket 80 percent, with natural gas increasingly used to generate electricity because it is less polluting than coal.

In its its annual energy outlook, Exxon said expanding global prosperity and a ballooning world population will jack up energy demand.

The outlook for rising demand "reflects improving living standards for people around the world," Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson said. Demand is expected to jump 75 percent in China, the world's most populous nation, where millions of people are buying cars and various home appliances for the first time.

Tillerson said "newly unlocked supplies of shale gas and other unconventional energy sources will be vital in meeting this demand." Exxon Mobil, in buying gas producer XTO Energy of Fort Worth last year, said it wants to boost its expertise in unconventional shale plays, an arena in which XTO has excelled.