Russia 'Ripe for Shale Boom'

Russia is ready for a boom in hydrocarbon extraction from shale deposits, although initially in oil, according to the Financial Times.

The British newspaper quotes Leonid Fedun, vice-president of semi-state oil producer Lukoil, saying harvesting of shale could result in 10 million barrels a day (bd) of crude oil, as output from western Siberia makes up for reduction in the country’s mature oilfields.

Russia is at or near the top of the list of countries with potential to replicate North America’s shale revolution, according to the paper. It has huge unconventional resources, a sophisticated oil industry and little of the environmental opposition that has blocked shale in some European countries.

President Vladimir Putin last October warned that the shale revolution could up-end the global hydrocarbon market. However Gazprom, the state gas behemoth, has talked down the opportunity of shale exploitation in its sector.

Late last year an official release from Gazprom said it would not be "expedient" to invest in shale gas exploration, although it undertook to investigate further and report back to the company's board in the fourth quarter of 2013.