The global shale gas market is expected to reach 17,201.6 billion cubic feet in 2019, showed a report by Transparency Market Research.
The global production of shale gas will go from 10,138.2 billion cubic feet in 2012 to 17,201.6 billion cubic feet by 2019, growing 7,9 percent, the report said.
The cost of production and contamination of surface water are expected to hinder the market growth in the near future, the study said.
Shale gas is natural gas that is found trapped within shale formations, with interest to potential gas shales spreading throughout the world. Shale gas has become an increasingly important source of natural gas in the United States since the start of this century. Currently, only the US and Canada are producing shale gas in commercial quantities.
Russia’s richest shale oil source is the Bazhenov formation in West Siberia with total reserves estimated at 1.24 trillion barrels, of which only 74.6 billion barrels are currently considered as technically recoverable, according to last year’s US Energy Information Administration (EIA) report.
