Could the Middle East Bring the Next Shale Gas Boom

The Middle East may have big deposits of shale gas, the unconventional natural gas resource that has transformed North America's gas market, a senior officer of Partex Oil and Gas said Monday.

 “In the Middle East we have plenty of source rocks, so for sure we have plenty of shale resources that can be used for the domestic market," said Antonio Costa Silva, Chairman of the Management Commission of Partex.  Partex, the international oil company founded by Middle East oil pioneer Calouste Gulbenkian, is a partner in Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations (ADCO).

Most of that interest has focused on extensive shale formations in China, Russia and Europe.

 The Middle East, meanwhile, has been overlooked because of its massive conventional oil and gas deposits. Except in Jordan, which imports almost all the oil and gas it uses and is seeking to exploit shale beds beneath its desert, the region's shale gas potential has not been assessed, Costa said at the Middle East Gas Forum in Abu Dhabi.

That could soon change, as Arab states in the Middle East increasingly seek to satisfy rising domestic gas demand by developing untapped regional gas resources that are not associated with their oil fields. That is important because the region's significant reserves of "associated gas" are needed to maintain pressure in oil reservoirs. Production of the gas is also limited by OPEC oil output agreements.