World Shale Gas Resources

http://geology.com/energy/world-shale-gas/

http://mi.ttu.ee/kildagaas/

Shale Gas in Worldwide Basins Technically Recoverable Shale Gas Resources by Country Country Reserves Algeria 231 Argentina 774 Australia 396 Bolivia 48 Brazil 226 Canada 388 Chile 64 China 1,275 Colombia 19 Denmark 23 France 180 Germany 8 India 63 Libya 290 Lithuania 4 Mexico 681 Morocco 11 Netherlands 17 Norway 83 Pakistan 51 Paraguay 62 Poland 187 South Africa 485 Sweden 41 Tunisia 18 Turkey 15 Ukraine 42 U.K. 20 United States 862 Uruguay 21 Venezuela 11 Western Sahara 7 Total (rounded) 6,622 Reserves are in trillions of cubic feet . In total, the report assessed 48 shale gas basins in 32 countries, containing almost 70 shale gas formations. These assessments cover the most prospective shale gas resources in a select group of countries that demonstrate some level of relatively near-term promise and for basins that have a sufficient amount of geologic data for resource analysis. The map at the top of this page shows the location of these basins and the regions analyzed. The map legend indicates four different colors on the world map that correspond to the geographic scope of this initial assessment: Red colored areas represent the location of assessed shale gas basins for which estimates of the 'risked' gas-in-place and technically recoverable resources were provided. Yellow colored area represents the location of shale gas basins that were reviewed, but for which estimates were not provided, mainly due to the lack of data necessary to conduct the assessment. White colored countries are those for which at least one shale gas basin was considered for this report. Gray colored countries are those for which no shale gas basins were considered for this report. The International Shale Gas Resource Base Although the shale gas resource estimates will likely change over time as additional information becomes available, the report shows that the international shale gas resource base is vast. The initial estimate of technically recoverable shale gas resources in the 32 countries examined is 5,760 trillion cubic feet, as shown in Table 1. Adding the U.S. estimate of the shale gas technically recoverable resources of 862 trillion cubic feet results in a total shale resource base estimate of 6,622 trillion cubic feet for the United States and the other 32 countries assessed. To put this shale gas resource estimate in some perspective, world proven reserves [5] of natural gas as of January 1, 2010 are about 6,609 trillion cubic feet, [6] and world technically recoverable gas resources are roughly 16,000 trillion cubic feet, [7] largely excluding shale gas. Thus, adding the identified shale gas resources to other gas resources increases total world technically recoverable gas resources by over 40 percent to 22,600 trillion cubic feet. Conservative Basin Estimates The estimates of technically recoverable shale gas resources for the 32 countries outside of the United States represents a moderately conservative 'risked' resource for the basins reviewed. These estimates are uncertain given the relatively sparse data that currently exist and the approach the consultant has employed would likely result in a higher estimate once better information is available. The methodology is outlined below and described in more detail within the attached report, and is not directly comparable to more detailed resource assessments that result in a probabilistic range of the technically recoverable resource. At the current time, there are efforts underway to develop more detailed shale gas resource assessments by the countries themselves, with many of these assessments being assisted by a number of U.S. federal agencies under the auspices of the Global Shale Gas Initiative (GSGI) which was launched in April 2010. [8] Highly Dependent Countries Delving deeper into the results at a country level, there are two country groupings that emerge where shale gas development may appear most attractive. The first group consists of countries that are currently highly dependent upon natural gas imports, have at least some gas production infrastructure, and their estimated shale gas resources are substantial relative to their current gas consumption. For these countries, shale gas development could significantly alter their future gas balance, which may motivate development. Examples of countries in this group include France, Poland, Turkey, Ukraine, South Africa, Morocco, and Chile. In addition, South Africa's shale gas resource endowment is interesting as it may be attractive for use of that natural gas as a feedstock to their existing gas-to-liquids (GTL) and coal-to-liquids (CTL) plants. Countries with a Natural Gas Infrastructure The second group consists of those countries where the shale gas resource estimate is large (e.g., above 200 trillion cubic feet) and there already exists a significant natural gas production infrastructure for internal use or for export. In addition to the United States, notable examples of this group include Canada, Mexico, China, Australia, Libya, Algeria, Argentina, and Brazil. Existing infrastructure would aide in the timely conversion of the resource into production, but could also lead to competition with other natural gas supply sources. For an individual country the situation could be more complex.