No Need for Shale Gas Production in Russia Yet: Official

MOSCOW, November 24 (Sputnik) — Russia is in no rush to extract shale gas as the production costs exceed profit, Pavel Zavalny, President of the Russian Gas Society and Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Energy said Monday.

"Shale gas prospects for Russia is something to look into in the future, but not just yet, because the cost of shale has extraction is so much higher than the price it can be sold at," Zavalny stated, noting that "the US may become the second largest gas producer in the world in the next year".

According to Vladimir Markov, Head of the Department for Relations with the Russian Federation Authorities at Russian energy giant Gazprom, "no one in Russia is against shale gas, but there is no need for it for now".

"We still have plenty of reserves of natural gas. But when the time comes, we will be able to start working in this direction," Markov said.

Shale gas refers to natural gas trapped within shale formations which requires sophisticated drilling technologies to extract it. The practice of extracting shale gas has become more common in recent years, especially in the United States, but remains highly controversial as it involves an increased number of environmental risks.