Shale Gas to the Rescue?

Despite the hype about the shale gas revolution, the extraction cost of (onshore) conventional gas remains below that of shale gas.

America s shale gas industry grew by 45 annually from 2005 to 2010, and the share of shale gas in America s overall gas production grew from 4 to 24 .

Shale gas could thus reduce dependency on OPEC oil and gas while reducing carbon emission.

Shale gas is abundant in Europe and North America, in contrast to oil and gas.

Shale gas wells deplete far more rapidly than conventional fields do.

In 2013, it was announced that Japan would be importing shale natural gas.

Within the past six years, shale gas alone has doubled potential gas resources in the United States and halved the price.

Even the much heralded shale gas revolution is a lot of hype 160 similar to the gold rushes and stock bubbles of the past. Shale gas wells deplete far more rapidly than conventional fields do.

The Bowland Shale, which lies beneath Lancashire and Yorkshire, contains 50 more gas than the combined reserves of two of the largest fields in the United States, the Barnett Shale and the Marcellus Shale.

PRAGUE In late June, the British Geological Survey announced the world s largest shale gas field.

The boom in this so called shale gas production has allowed the United States to become almost self sufficient in natural gas.

Recent breakthroughs have allowed the extraction of unconventional natural gas, such as shale gas, which might help offset decline in the years ahead.

With respect to climate change, however, the effects of greater reliance on shale gas are mixed.

It s as if we reacted to Fukushima by better handling gas emissions in oil shale projects.

The big news in energy these days is the revolution in technology for tapping shale gas.

However, the rise of fracking should be viewed with caution Poorly managed fracking facilities can leak methane, a potent greenhouse gas and shale oil, to which many frackers are turning, is much more emissions intensive than shale gas.

Our experience with shale gas, our experience with natural gas, shows us that the payoffs on these public investments don't always come right away.

By 2035, shale gas is projected to account for roughly one half of total US energy production.

From an economic (and environmental) standpoint, fracking is thus unlikely to bring large benefits for Europe shale gas might simply substitute for plentiful conventional gas.

Jorma Ollila, Chairman of Royal Dutch Shell, described the global map of major shale oil and gas deposits.

Shale gas could cut the cost of reducing CO2 seven times more while actually helping Europe s ailing economy.

The most promising breakthrough may well be the discovery of huge reserves of shale gas all over the planet.

Indeed, shale gas extraction is so economically favorable that even American gas exported to Europe would cost 30 less than what the Russian energy giant Gazprom currently charges.

Whereas extraction of America s extensive reserves of natural gas was previously thought to be unfeasible, technologies such as hydraulic fracturing ( fracking ) have ushered in a shale gas revolution.

The plan highlights the need to take advantage of the opportunities afforded by shale gas and newly discovered oil reserves.

Annual growth in shale gas production has increased from 17 between 2000 and 2006 to 48 between 2006 and 2010.

Of course, technological advances, like hydraulic fracturing ( fracking ) in the shale gas industry, could increase supply and therefore lower prices.

The advent of shale gas has confused the energy debate even more. If gas is substituted for coal, it can be a useful bridge to a low carbon future.

Maybe Europe will become a leader in advanced fracking when the shale gas deposits in the US have already been exhausted.

It would enhance US economic competitiveness, especially relative to Europe, given the lower costs involved in the extraction of shale gas.

A strong and dynamic US economy, reinvigorated by cheap shale gas and accelerating innovation, would rejuvenate the global economy as a whole.

for Pennsylvania Shale.

But the most crucial and almost always overlooked point about fracking is that shale gas, like all hydrocarbons, can be used only once.

The real issue is thus not whether shale gas should be developed in Europe, but when it should be used today or tomorrow.

Even the much heralded shale gas revolution is a lot of hype similar to the gold rushes and stock bubbles of the past.

In fact, the United States is now investing heavily in natural gas without recognizing or caring that its shale gas boom, based on new hydraulic fracturing technology, is likely to make matters worse.

And incorporating shale gas into the world s energy mix could help to combat climate change by creating a bridge to a low carbon future.

Indeed, thanks to the new techniques in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, shale gas may well become the dominant energy resource of the future.

Tar Sands and Shale.

America s rapid switch to natural gas is the result of three decades of technological innovation, particularly the development of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, which has opened up large new resources of previously inaccessible shale gas.

But pro fracking critics of the European Union miss a second point the EU has no authority over the development of shale gas in Europe.

But pro fracking critics of the European Union miss a second point the EU has no authority over the development of shale gas in Europe.

In principle, Mexico s economy should be benefiting from the same shale gas revolution that is providing a huge boost to the US, where natural gas prices are now less than one quarter of what Europeans pay.

The Shale Revolution s Global Footprint