Shale Gas and Oil: Fundamentally Changing Global Energy Markets

Abstract

Shale production on a significant scale arose quite recently and is so far limited to the US with gas having a few years' lead on oil. Further sizable production increases can be expected in the US, and the shale revolution is likely to spread, with a lag, across the globe. This will result in fundamental repercussions for international energy markets. The EIA assessment from 2013, covering 41 countries, estimates the technically recoverable resources of shale gas at 186,000 million tons of oil equivalent, about as much as global proved gas reserves. In this perspective, the authors projection appears as truly revolutionary -- a game changer for the gas and oil markets. It suffices to say that the abundance caused by a successful shale revolution would have a strong impact on fossil prices with a stimulating impact on the world economy and hard to fathom changes in international political relations.