Yonhap: Diplomat stresses importance of shale gas as game changer

South Korea should boost its efforts to develop shale gas overseas as it could emerge as a potential game changer in the global energy market, a high-ranking diplomat said Tuesday.

Shale gas is natural gas deposited in shale formations that is currently produced in only a handful of countries around the world, including the United States.

Once regarded as uneconomical mainly due to a lack of extraction technologies, shale gas has recently been hailed as a game changer in the global energy market as new technologies have made it available at lower prices.

Speaking at a global conference on shale gas, Ahn Chong-ghee, deputy foreign minister for economic affairs, said that the race to secure a stable supply of energy resources has been intensified due to unrest in the Middle East and the Ukraine crisis.
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