World Energy Balance

World Energy Balance

By Dr Arvind Kumar

World energy balance is likely to undergo a paradigm shift in the near future in view of rising natural gas production from shale formations. While dismissing the notion, recently debated in the U.S. media, that the shale gas revolution is a transitory occurrence, a new Baker Institute study, "Shale Gas and U.S. National Security," projects that U.S. shale production will more than quadruple by 2040 from 2010 levels of more than 10 billion cubic feet per day, reaching more than 50 percent of total U.S. natural gas production by the 2030s. Largely due to shale gas discoveries, estimated reserves of natural gas in the United States in 2008 were 35% higher than in 2006.

Oil shale, an organic-rich fine-grained sedimentary rock, contains significant amounts of kerogen (a solid mixture of organic chemical compounds) from which liquid hydrocarbons called shale oil and/or natural gas can be produced. Deposits of oil shale occur around the world, including major deposits in the United States of America. Shale gas in the United States is rapidly increasing as a source of natural gas. Led by new applications of hydraulic fracturing technology and horizontal drilling, development of new sources of shale gas has offset declines in production from conventional gas reservoirs, and has led to major increases in reserves of US natural gas. The findings of the study conclude that shale gas will reduce competition for LNG supplies from the Middle East. The economic success of shale gas has led to rapid development of shale gas in Canada, Europe, Asia, and Australia.

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