Fresh EIA Estimates Cement Transition from Oil to Gas

Fresh estimates on global shale production by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) suggest that shale formation can entrench the shift from oil to gas.

“Based on U.S. shale production experience, the recovery factors used in this report for shale gas generally ranged from 20 percent to 30 percent, with values as low as 15 percent and as high as 35 percent being applied in exceptional cases. Because of oil’s viscosity and capillary forces, oil does not flow through rock fractures as easily as natural gas. Consequently, the recovery factors for shale oil are typically lower than they are for shale gas, ranging from 3 percent to 7 percent of the oil in-place with exceptional cases being as high as 10 percent or as low as 1 percent,” reads the report released by the EIA on Monday.

Shale formations are changing the prospects of the two fuels, increasing the relative advantage of gas to oil.

“Shale oil resources may delay the transition to the more widespread use of gas as a transport fuel, but given the relative abundance of the two fuels, some switch to gas seems inevitable in the longer term, and the threat will help keep a lid on long-term oil prices,” commented Reuters.

The new report released on Monday presents estimates on 95 basins in 41 countries, taking into consideration 47 new basins and 9 countries not analysed in the 2011 report.

Global shale gas estimates were increased by 10.2 % from 2011, as the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) expanded its assessment of shale gas resources.