According to the forecasts of the International Energy Agency, in the next decade Russia may lose its status as the leader of the world gas market. Such an outcome of events is quite likely if China, Mexico, Argentina and a number of other states follow the US example and start producing gas from unconventional sources.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) released a report titled “Golden Rules for a Golden Age of Gas,” where experts from the agency formulated basic rules for extracting gas from unconventional sources such as shale gas, hard-to-reach gas and gas from coal seams. Compliance with these rules is mainly reduced to strict adherence to the norms of environmental legislation. Unquestioning observance of these rules will allow in the next decade to begin large-scale gas production in many countries where there are large reserves in unconventional sources: China, Argentina, Mexico, Australia and other countries. Thus, by 2035, Russia may finally lose its leadership in the global gas market, but at the same time remain a major supplier.
The transition to gas production from unconventional sources can be hampered by environmental requirements, which are quite stringent in many countries. In addition, the cost of producing such gas is still high. For comparison, the cost of gas production in Western Siberia is $ 2 per MBtu, the cost of shale gas production in the USA and China is $ 3-7, in Europe - $ 5-10.
Already, environmentalists in the United States are opposed to gas exports. In their opinion, this goal is not worth the damage that shale gas production can cause to the environment. The innovations are also not encouraging for consumers, who are already accustomed to low gas prices.
According to experts, the United States is indeed showing impressive results in the production of gas from unconventional sources. But not all countries can follow the example of the United States. The same soft environmental legislation is not everywhere, there is a suitable relief, geology and population density.
