Declining crude oil prices has negatively effected shale gas investments in the short-term but it is not a threat for long term investments, said China's first shale gas liquefaction plant builder, Jereh's Middle East General Manager.
'In shale we should look for long term investments' said Johnson Ji, Middle East general manager of Jereh and added 'The low oil prices are temporarily, the oil prices will go up in the future.'
'The cost of shale gas extraction is higher when compared to conventional energy, investors negatively affected by the low oil prices,' Ji said 'The gulf countries like Kuwait and Saudi Arabia and many other oil producer countries trys to develop shale gas because the oil will be finished and they need new resources.' he added.
Despite China having the world's most discovered shale gas reserves, the U.S. has been the leading country in terms of global production.
Shifting into an exporter status since its shale revolution in 2008, the U.S. enjoys its domestic production and decreasing independence on imports. Since the so called 'shale revolution,' the U.S. enjoys the benefits of domestic oil and gas production which lowered its dependency on oil imports as its oil production levels reached 9 million barrels per day in 2014.
China, one of the world's fastest emerging economies, energy consumption is rising faster than any other country in the world, still did not produce enough natural gas to meet its own needs.
Meanwhile, China has the world’s largest shale gas reserves with 31.5 trillion cubic meters, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration. China's targeted shale gas production is to reach 6.5 billion cubic meters in 2015
By Huseyin Erdogan
Anadolu Agency
huseyin.erdogan@aa.com.tr