U.S. Shale Development Points To Far-Reaching Effect Worldwide

摘要

Ten years after the shale revolution first took off in the North Texas Barnett Shale formation, large-scale shale development primarily remains a phenomenon unique to the United States. This has many U.S. and foreign companies, investors and policymakers asking a lot of questions about the American experience with shale development. What made the U.S. shale revolution possible? How did it accelerate so quickly? Is it replicable elsewhere in the world? Before making any predictions regarding the future, it is necessary to first examine the factors that enabled the unparalleled success of the shale revolution in the U.S. The explanation for the U.S.'s experience is more complex than the presence of available or easily accessible shale resources. In fact, in June, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimated that only 9.1% of total worldwide technically recoverable shale gas resources and only 16.8% of total worldwide technically recoverable "tight oil" resources (crude oil embedded in low-permeable sandstone, carbonate, and shale formations) are located inside the U.S.