The U.S. Shale Gas Revolution and its Implications for International Energy Policy

Nyangon, Joseph (2015): The U.S. Shale Gas Revolution and its Implications for International Energy Policy. Published in: Green Monitor: Technology Policy Review , Vol. 1, No. 3 (31 July 2015): pp. 184-190.

Abstract

Four years ago, gas prices in the United States approached record highs at nearly $4 per gallon, all the while politicians argued about the causes and solutions. President Obama tried to calm the oil and financial markets, announcing on March 30, 2011 a goal that has tantalized presidents since Richard Nixon: to attain independence from foreign energy sources by reducing oil imports by more than one-third by 2025, a milestone that could reconfigure the U.S’ economy, geopolitics, and more. The U.S.’ dependence on foreign petroleum is widely considered a national security risk due to the volatility of oil and gas prices, supply-demand imbalances, and threats of sudden and more severe supply disruptions. For four decades, as U.S. energy consumption and imports increased, production fell, prompting the question: is rising oil and gas production in the U.S. likely to alter the four-decades-old debate surrounding energy independence in the U.S. and beyond, and if so, how and with what consequences to international energy markets? This paper evaluates the geopolitics of the U.S. shale gas revolution and its implications for international energy policy.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Shale Energy, Natural Gas, Unconventional Gas, Energy Policy
• Subjects: E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics > E2 - Consumption, Saving, Production, Investment, Labor Markets, and Informal Economy; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O3 - Innovation ; Research and Development ; Technological Change ; Intellectual Property Rights > O32 - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D; Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics ; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q4 - Energy > Q41 - Demand and Supply ; Prices; Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics ; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q4 - Energy > Q43 - Energy and the Macroeconomy; Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics ; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q5 - Environmental Economics; Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics ; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q5 - Environmental Economics > Q55 - Technological Innovation

References

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[2] IEA (2012). World Energy Outlook 2012, Executive Summary. International Energy Agency (IEA), http://www.iea.org/publications/freepublications/publication/English.pdf, Paris. As of December 2014, the DOE received 47 applications for permission to export LNG with a combined capacity of 41.9 bcf/d.

[3] Bartis, James T., LaTourrette, Tom, Dixon, Lloyd, Peterson, D.J. and Cecchine, Gary (2005). Oil Shale Development in the United States: Prospects and Policy Issues (Santa Monica, CA., RAND Corporation. Price estimates converted from 2005 to 2014 dollars by using Consumer Price Index (CPI)

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[5] IEA (2014). International Energy Agency, Medium-Term Gas Market Report 2014, p73-74. According to the Report, Australia had seven LNG terminals under construction with a combined capacity of 8 bcf/d as of May 2014.

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[7] EIA (2014b). Short-Term Energy and Winter Fuels Outlook (STEO), October 2014. U.S. Energy Information Administration (U.S. Department of Energy, accessed on Jan. 19, 2015), available at: http://www.eia.gov/forecasts/steo/archives/oct14.pdf