A.T. Kearney: Ukraine, Poland - Future European Leaders in Shale Gas Production

KYIV, Ukraine, May 14, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

Ukraine and Poland are likely to spearhead Europe regarding shale gas production by 2035, reported the global consulting company A.T. Kearney, as cited by bloomberg.com. In part, the two Eastern European countries will lead the region thanks to the present political support, said A.T. Kearney. Notably, Europe possesses close to seven percent of world shale gas supplies.

Management consultant A.T. Kearney expects shale gas production in the region to reach 58 billion cubic meters by 2035, which is well over 12 percent of the total gas consumed by the EU in 2011. By that time the shale gas extraction in Europe should account for 45 percent of the total gas production in the region, with the exception of Norway, reads Bloomberg Businessweek.

"The business with shale gas is a long-term, capital-intensive and risky project," commented the lead author of the A.T. Kearney study Kurt Oswald. The study also points out that shale gas deposits development will not be profitable in most countries until 2017-2018 since the production costs exceed its market price.

Ukraine's shale gas deposits of 42 trillion cubic feet (1.2 trillion cubic meters), according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, are the third largest in Europe. The country's shale gas pools are recoverable and environmentally friendly, and they can serve as an energy source for Europe and the world's population in the future, as pointed out earlier by the former Italian Prime Minister and the former European Commission President Romano Prodi in his article for the Christian Science Monitor.

On January 24, Shell signed the 50-year contract, the biggest contract to tap shale gas in Europe so far. The deal was reported to be worth USD 10 billion. Shell won the right to explore Yuzivske gas field in Eastern Ukraine in May 2012. In August 2012, Shell, ExxonMobil, Romanian OMV Petrom, and Ukrainian state company Nadra received joint rights to develop underwater deposits at Ukrainian deep marine shelf field under the Black Sea.

Ukrainian government is investing extra efforts into diversifying its energy sources, especially exploring domestic gas reserves. Reportedly, such efforts may prove effective in gaining independence from expensive Russian gas.