U.S. shale gas costs are underestimated

"Shale gas revolution" - not previously mined from shale reservoirs shale gas and shale oil - has been as an energy game changer.Unconventional gas It is traditional offset the decline in oil and gas production, including shale gas is treated as a low-carbon future transitional fuel, shale oil (also called tight oil) are considered to be able to make the United States to become the world's largest oil producing countries, and reduce oil imports.
These heady proposition has largely been including the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), including government agencies to accept. BP predicts that by 2030, shale gas production will reach three times in 2011, tight oil production in 2011 will be based on an increase of 6 times.
These claims can not withstand careful scrutiny. By the California Santa Rosa in a "post-carbon institute" report "non-conventional fuels can open a new era of energy abundance do? ", The analysis of the United States, 30 and 21 dense shale gas fields, revealing the shale revolution will be difficult to maintain the reality. The study is based on widely adopted industry and government in the database 65000 Shale wells data.ceramic ball It shows shale and shale oil wells / gas production capacity has emerged as a steep downward trend. Many shale gas production costs have exceeded the current natural gas prices, the need to further increase the drilling and capital investment to maintain production.
While shale gas and tight oil extraction over a longer period of time to maintain a certain level above, but will likely yield more than the industrial sector and the government's optimistic forecast to be low. Unless prices rise significantly, or shale gas supply will decline sharply in the next decade. Around shale gas and tight oil,frac sand companies a more realistic discussion imminent - it needs to be sustainable, cost, and environmental impacts in further analysis.