OPEC acknowledges shale oil supply may be significant

[ScienceRocks]

OPEC acknowledges shale oil supply may be significant
Reuters ^ | November 8, 2012 | Alex Lawler
OPEC acknowledges shale oil supply may be significant | Reuters

OPEC acknowledged for the first time on Thursday that technology for extracting oil and gas from shale is changing the global supply picture significantly, and said demand for crude will rise more slowly than it had previously expected.

In its annual World Oil Outlook, OPEC cut its forecast of global oil demand to 2016 due to economic weakness and also increased its forecast of supplies from countries outside the 12-nation exporters' group.

"Given recent significant increases in North American shale oil and shale gas production, it is now clear that these resources might play an increasingly important role in non-OPEC medium- and long-term supply prospects," the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said in the report.

OPEC has been slower than some to acknowledge the impact that new technologies such as hydraulic fracturing - known as "fracking" - may have on supply. Conoco's Chief Executive Ryan Lance has gone so far as to predict North America could become self-sufficient in oil and gas by 2025.

In OPEC's new forecast, shale oil will contribute 2 million barrels per day (bpd) to supply by 2020 and 3 million bpd by 2035. For comparison, 2 million bpd is equal to the current output of OPEC member Nigeria, which is Africa's top exporter...

 

[ScienceRocks]

We don't have to worry about an oil shortage anytime soon.

 

[chikenwing]

We don't have to worry about an oil shortage anytime soon.

No but what we do have to worry about is the lack of brain power from the no drill crowd,they have already screwed over New York state with their lies.

 

[lolhahaha]

"A recent announcement from the U.S. Geological Survey raised previous estimates of oil shale in the Piceance Basin by 50%. Previous U.S. shale oil resource estimates totaled 2.118 trillion barrels. The richest, most concentrated deposits in the U.S. are found in the Green River Formation in western Colorado, eastern Utah, and southern Wyoming

For reference, 1 trillion barrels is nearly 4 times the amount of proven oil reserves in Saudi Arabia."

Saudi has to be sweating losing their dominance. The US and Russia, maybe even China are the future. They aren't going to have any control for long.

 

[editec]

Yes of course it is.

And as long as the price of oil stays high enough to support the greater cost of extraction, shale oil is going to be a viable resource for extraction, too.

But consider this.....natural gas resources are being extracted now at amazing rates of extraction.

As these go on line, and as people like me switch from heating oil to natural gas, this will depress the market for oil. (BTW, converting from oil to gas is not a very expensive proposition. A modern oil burner is about $15,000 installed. Putting propane gas heaters in can be done starting for about $700! So the cost of conversion can be more than paid off in savings on heating in LESS THAN ONE HEATING SEASON)

I doubt we've really begun to see the full effects of natural gas coming on the market , yet, but I can assure you that it is coming.

I suspect the longer term price of petroleum will be going down, and if it goes down enough shale oil will NOT be economic viable.

 

[there4eyeM]

Bad news for renewables and more intelligent use of our environment, though.