Zo meldt Nature:
When US President Barack Obama talks about the future, he foresees a thriving US economy fuelled to a large degree by vast amounts of natural gas pouring from domestic wells. “We have a supply of natural gas that can last America nearly 100 years,” he declared in his 2012 State of the Union address.
Obama’s statement reflects an optimism that has permeated the United States. It is all thanks to fracking — or hydraulic fracturing — which has made it possible to coax natural gas at a relatively low price out of the fine-grained rock known as shale. Around the country, terms such as ‘shale revolution’ and ‘energy abundance’ echo through corporate boardrooms.
Companies are betting big on forecasts of cheap, plentiful natural gas. Over the next 20 years, US industry and electricity producers are expected to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in new plants that rely on natural gas. And billions more dollars are pouring into the construction of export facilities that will enable the United States to ship liquefied natural gas to Europe, Asia and South America.
All of those investments are based on the expectation that US gas production will climb for decades, in line with the official forecasts by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA).
De werkelijkheid lijkt echter anders te zijn.
h/t Hans Verbeek
Reacties (3)
De produktie van schaliegas zou in 2015 al lager kunnen uitvallen dan voorspeld. De daling van de olieprijs leidt tot een forse krimp van de schaliegas en schalie-olie-industrie in de VS.
Volgens Reuters werden er in november slechts 4500 nieuwe boorvergunningen verleend. Dat is 40% minder dan de 7200 vergunningen van oktober.
Minder nieuwe boringen betekent vrijwel automatisch een lagere produktie.
@1: Mooi toch, kunnen ze alsnog langer vooruit met de kleinere hoeveelheid die er zit. De onzichtbare hand doet haar werk, of zoiets.
Volgens mij is de conclusie dat het maken van schattingen voor de hoeveelheid Schaliegas erg moeilijk, niet dat er minder te winnen is.