MOSCOW (MRC) -- Opec is to carry out its own investigation into the impact of global shale resource discoveries and exploitation on long-term prospects for conventional oil and gas, said Upstreamonline.
Meeting in Vienna on Friday, where leaders agreed to maintain the cartel’s current target production rate, Opec said it was receiving too much conflicting external information on the impact of unconventional oil and gas on the industry.
"It is a new supply, a new liquid, and the ministers would like to know the magnitude of this supply, how long it will last - the sutainability, the cost. So we will follow it up," the news wire quoted Secretary-General Abdullah al-Badri as saying.
"We're going to follow it up because there are differences in the information we are receiving. We are not receiving accurate information, we have to do it ourselves."
The news wire said the 12-member organisation has set up a committee to look into the issue.
Nigerian Oil Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke said at the same meeting: "It the shale boom is a concern, but we also respect the sovereignty and integrity of any country to provide self sustainability in terms of their oil and gas or hydrocarbon needs."
The Wall Street Journal quoted Saudi Oil Minister Ali Naimi, however, as being comparatively nonplussed by the shale gale, saying: "The market is in an excellent condition, the demand and supply are good, the inventories are good".
"Why are you all excited all of a sudden on shale? You know why, because you [the journalist] like to chit chat…you are an agent of disturbance. Leave us alone and leave all these issues. We had enough of shale oil and talks of shale. Please talk about anything else."
The growth in U.S. shale-gas exploration and production has lowered domestic gas prices and enables producers there to use gas as feedstock. That has put pressure on petrochemical producers in Saudi Arabia who get gas for a government- subsidized price of USD0.75 per million British thermal units.
As MRC wrote before, Saudi Arabia intends to remain a world energy powerhouse for the foreseeable future, partly by exploiting new technology which has unlocked vast quantities of oil and natural gas in North America. Saudi Arabia will push ahead this year with exploratory drilling of shale and other unconventional gas reserves which could be twice the size of its conventional gas reserves, which total 286 trillion cubic feet. Exploiting unconventional and renewable energy will allow Saudi Arabia to meet rising domestic demand while maintaining crude-oil exports, add Mr. al-Naimi.
MRC