That may all be true, but I suspect it’s because we haven’t figured out how to turn it into a resource. Once we do that, it becomes an asset.
Methane hydrates have had two successful tests offshore and one in the Arctic onshore over permafrost. The reason right now is it’s cheaper to frac in Midland, and the East Coast than to go after deep water hydrates.
UCG is old technology the Soviets ran a number of sites for years and years during the 1980s ran power plants off the produced gases and also made synthetic fuels. Here again it’s cheaper to pay the Saudi’s for crude than to turn syngas into liquid fuels.
The fact is at 2021 consumption levels not counting on China’s massively growing middle class nor India’s growing middle class the supply of liquid hydrocarbons runs out in 47 to 40 years that’s with EOR, and tertiary recovery technologies at any price per bbl that’s technically recoverable oil not economically.
I have spent the better part of nearly two decades as a Geologist in this very industry. We need to move to other energy sources even if they are are expensive sooner than later to keep the world’s economy going and also feed 8+-billon mouths. Oil won’t end at $300+ bbl there will always be some out there even synthetic oils at that prices but the age of $100 and under will be over and if humans do not have other energy sources in use on a grand scale the collapse of the global energy system and its associated food system will be biblical in nature.