Asia Pacific Will Take At Least Five Years to Exploit Shale

Commercial production of shale gas and oil in Asia-Pacific region won't happen anytime soon—nor will it be easy or cheap, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said in a report published Thursday, titled, "Asia's Tough Terrain Delays Shale Gas Progress, But Latent Demand May Ignite Growth".

"Technological limitations, inadequate skills, and tough terrains require huge and costly investments. And poor infrastructure in remote reservoirs would make it difficult to get shale resources to markets," Standard & Poor's Ratings Services credit analyst Lawrence Lu said.

Nonetheless, the need for energy security, the push for lower emission fuel, and robust energy demand are likely to spur Asia-Pacific countries to pursue commercial production of shale gas and oil, in addition to other hydrocarbons, the report said

Because of the challenges, Asia-Pacific is likely to take more than five years to unlock its shale resources, the report said.

 Regulatory and environmental policies, including drilling bans in Europe and elsewhere, have plagued and stalled resource development in some countries. At the same time, fixed regulatory controls on gas prices in Asia-Pacific countries make it uneconomical to extract shale resources, although such controls are loosening.