World has 10 years of shale oil, reports US$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'G')lobal shale resources are vast enough to cover more than a decade of oil consumption, according to the
first-ever US assessment of reserves from Russia to Argentina.
The US Department of Energy estimated “technically recoverable” shale oil resources of 345bn barrels in 42 countries it surveyed, or 10 per cent of global crude supplies. The department had previously only provided an estimate for US shale reserves, which it on Monday increased from 32bn barrels to 58bn.
The pace of oil and gas production gains has consistently surprised forecasters since horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, better known as “fracking”, were pioneered in US shale rock formations about ten years ago. Only the US and Canada are producing oil and natural gas from shale in commercial quantities, the department said.
Monday’s assessment indicated that Russia has the largest shale oil resource, with 75bn barrels. Russia and the US were followed by China at 32bn, Argentina at 27bn and Libya at 26bn.
The US report looked only at technically recoverable resources without regard to profitability, and warned the estimates are “highly uncertain”.
Adam Sieminski, head of the department’s Energy Information Administration, said: “Today’s report indicates a significant potential for international shale oil and shale gas, though the extent to which technically recoverable shale resources will prove to be economically recoverable is not yet clear.”